Increased Milk Protein Concentration in a Rehydration Drink Enhances Fluid Retention Caused by Water Reabsorption in Rats

A fluid-retention effect is required for beverages that are designed to prevent dehydration. That is, fluid absorbed from the intestines should not be excreted quickly; long-term retention is desirable. Here, we focused on the effect of milk protein on fluid retention, and propose a new effective oral rehydration method that can be used daily for preventing dehydration. We first evaluated the effects of different concentrations of milk protein on fluid retention by measuring the urinary volumes of rats fed fluid containing milk protein at concentrations of 1, 5, and 10%. We next compared the fluid-retention effect of milk protein-enriched drink (MPD) with those of distilled water (DW) and a sports drink (SD) by the same method. Third, to investigate the mechanism of fluid retention, we measured plasma insulin changes in rats after ingesting these three drinks. We found that the addition of milk protein at 5 or 10% reduced urinary volume in a dose-dependent manner. Ingestion of the MPD containing 4.6% milk protein resulted in lower urinary volumes than DW and SD. MPD also showed a higher water reabsorption rate in the kidneys and higher concentrations of plasma insulin than DW and SD. These results suggest that increasing milk protein concentration in a beverage enhances fluid retention, which may allow the possibility to develop rehydration beverages that are more effective than SDs. In addition, insulin-modifying renal water reabsorption may contribute to the fluid-retention effect of MPD.