As to DOMS, the following at least gave me some insight as to why it happens and why it may be more severe to us older athletes
"It's the form of the carbohydrate and the nutrients in milk that is most important," said Emma Cockburn, a lecturer in sports coaching at Northumbria University in northeast England who led the study, which was partially paid for by the dairy industry.
Cockburn advised athletes to drink milk immediately after working out. "The damage caused by exercise leads to a breakdown of the protein structures in your muscles, but that doesn't happen until 24 to 48 hours later," she said. If athletes drink milk right after training, then by the time it is digested, the milk's nutrients are ready to be absorbed by the muscles that have been hurt.
Drinking milk also may help athletes recover quicker if they are performing multiple times in a day. For people who can't stomach the idea of plain milk, experts recommend adding some chocolate or other artificial flavor. At the Beijing Olympics, six-time gold medalist Michael Phelps regularly downed a flavored milk drink in between races.
The rest of the story has a number of good points and I would encourage all to read it. I would have copied and pasted the whole thing but there was a copyright mention at the bottom of the story so I figured I'd better not push it. I'd be interested in what others (especially coaches) think of this.
