Post: #1

I've been on the GOMAD (gallon of milk a day) diet for close to 3 weeks now, and i've noticed my weight gain increase incrementally, I am a hardgainer, but a + 1.5 lbs a week is insanely good for me.

I'd love to make this a permanent thing but i can't find any information on what complications could come out of it.

Anyone with some useful information that's either a personal trainer/nutritionist/doc could tell me the long term potential complications that could arise out of drinking a gallon of milk a day ?

Post: #2

There has been some conflicting research to suggest that excess dairy consumption can lead to certain types of cancers. The most famous book that was written about this topic is called "The China Study". It is probably at your local library if you want to check it out.

As a hard-gainer myself, I've found that increasing overall caloric intake is the only way to make consistent gains. That has nothing to do with milk. It just means you have a fast metabolism that burns away calories quickly, so if you aren't eating a lot, your body won't grow.

Post: #3

(12-26-2016 06:13 PM)John Michael Kane Wrote:  As a hard-gainer myself, I've found that increasing overall caloric intake is the only way to make consistent gains.

I was involved in a car crash some years ago that caused me to lose like 80% of my stomach. that much i do know, it's a hellish goal to try to achieve in a world that doesn't have as much of a market for gaining weight as the consumer base is more worried about trying to lose it. I know caloric intake is key, but that's pretty difficult to do with the current digestive system i have.

thanks for the information !

Post: #4

I have no idea what the long-term implications are, but I do know GOMAD isn't something that's supposed to be permanent. You drink the gallon everyday until you don't want to gain weight rapidly anymore. This shouldn't take more than a few months at the most.

In my experience, maintaining weight is ten times easier than gaining weight, so once you're done with GOMAD, you won't have to worry about losing the weight you put on. It will still take some effort though until your body adjusts to your new body weight.

Post: #5

Ouch, that's a rough predicament. My original suggestion of increasing intake is obviously much harder given your special circumstance. Given the special circumstances, have you tried working with a nutritionist or doctor who has specialized knowledge in maintaining weight for someone with less than 100% G.I. tract functionality? That's a bit over my head to recommend, given your stomach's condition. Doctors who specialize in cancer patients also might be able to shed some light on how to gain weight, as unintended weight loss is something that cancer patients have to overcome. Has your primary care doctor recommended a specific diet, or can you ask him to refer you to an expert?

Post: #6

(12-26-2016 06:28 PM)Corollary Wrote:  I have no idea what the long-term implications are, but I do know GOMAD isn't something that's supposed to be permanent. You drink the gallon everyday until you don't want to gain weight rapidly anymore. This shouldn't take more than a few months at the most.

In my experience, maintaining weight is ten times easier than gaining weight, so once you're done with GOMAD, you won't have to worry about losing the weight you put on. It will still take some effort though until your body adjusts to your new body weight.

100% agreed.

OP, don't do gomad forever. You will reach a point where you start getting fat. I thought the same way and have pictures to prove it.

Get to your desired weight and significantly reduce the amount of milk you're drinking. You'll be surprised at how easy it is to maintain weight once you're there.

Post: #7

Dairy is inflammatory to many humans and studies (China Study is strongly biased, FYI) may also exacerbate tumor growth. Most of us are not designed to consume it without some negative consequence and some people are in fact highly allergic. I find the blood type diets (Dr D'Adamo) very insightful on what foods work for different people. Take care to listen to your own body's feedback to what you put in it.

Post: #8

Unless you skinny as a toothpick, why would you even do this?

Post: #9

Google "lactase supplements" and get your hands on them. They allow your body to better digest the different proteins in milk that generally cause problems in most folks. Most people are, to different degrees, lactose intolerant.

I also recommend taking fish oil supplements to balance out the omega 3's and omega 6's (as milk contains a good amount of fat).

Other than that, if it doesn't cause you a lot of digestive stress, go for it.

Perhaps the reason why you can put on weight with milk is because it contains a lot of calories in liquid form. It wouldn't be a bad idea to experiment with different meal replacements (homemade or otherwise) to supplement or replace GOMAD after a fashion.

Post: #10

I wouldn't recommend GOMAD for anyone other than skinny high school and college athletes. If you dig deep into Rip's writing, he only recommends GOMAD for high school kids getting ready for football. Other than that he makes no mention(likely on purpose), of older adults doing GOMAD. This is a common and glaringly overlooked aspect of the diet. Go ask him in person and see what he says on his forum. I did GOMAD at 30 and gained 15lbs of LBM in 12 weeks. I've trained and studied Rip very closely for years. It results in excess and extremely hard to remove body fat, hemorrhoids, bitch tits(once you quit lifting), etc. You will retain your LBM well after your done, but you will always be "bigger", and much easier to gain fat. I barely eat now, and I have maintained a 15-20% BF level for years. As an over 30 lifter doing GOMAD, unless you go hard into endurance sports, or an insane hardcore diet which I am unwilling to do, you will walk away with much more muscle, and a very thick coating of body fat that you may never lose.

Post: #11

GOMAD is a massive trolljob. I implore you not to do it. Keep your "bulking" calories at Bodyweight (lbs) x 17 then adjust only when necessary.

Post: #12

It helped me gain weight when I was a skinny university kid. I was 6' 150 lbs in high school because a combination of zero strength sports and all endurance sports (tennis, track, basketball, frisbee, cross country, etc).

Do it for a couple of months and wean off of it. Take with lactase pills if you have digestive problems. This isn't a permanent solution but can help you get on the gain train in the beginning.

Post: #13

I tried GOMAD coupled with Stronglifts 5x5 when I was back in college (coupled with a half-decent diet plan)

In 2 years (2 weeks on GOMAD 1 week off + a month or so break every 3 months) I went from a toothpick 57KG to 81KG.

I'd always struggled to gain because I had a naturally low appetite, it helped immensely.

A short while after I stopped (due to surgery) I became lactose intolerant, I'm presuming it was the cause.

Now I can't even look at milk without feeling to drop a deuce.

Post: #14

I also did GOMAD for my novice weightlifting progression along with Greyskull LP, which is just a modified version of Starting Strength with more emphasis on the upper body and less on squatting to keep you more proportional.

Pros of GOMAD

1. Lots of calories obviously. Each gallon of whole milk has 2380 calories. This added to your regular diet guarantees weight gain even for "hard gainers". You will gain weight, probably faster than you can imagine.
2. It's much easier to drink calories than it is to eat them. I've never been a big eater so GOMAD was perfect for me in this regard.
3. Having a gallon of milk provides a measurable amount that you have to drink throughout the day. It's liking carrying around a gallon of water. Knowing you have to drink the whole gallon holds you accountable.

Negatives of GOMAD
1. A lot of people don't digest milk all that well. I had to rely on using probiotics otherwise I'd feel like shit the whole time.
2. Your going to put on fat. There is no way around this. You can't gain from 1 to 2 pounds a week of muscle. Don't lie to yourself. Most guys can't even do that on Gear. That's why this is recommended to skinny guys only. They are the only ones that can do GOMAD for an entire linear progression (6 months approximately) without getting obese.

I went from 180 pounds to 230 pounds at the end of my linear progression. 50 pounds of weight. I'd estimate less than half of that was actually muscle though. My body fat percentage probably went from 12% to around 22%. My strength on all lifts did go up tremendously though.
3. The above leads to the last negative of GOMAD. You will have to cut right after you finish, unless of course you like being fat.

Overall I'm glad I did it. It really gives you the correct perspective in regards to how many calories you need for muscle growth. That being said you couldn't pay me enough to do it again these days. GOMAD is dirty bulking for sure and nobody besides a skinny novice has any business trying to gain muscle that way.

Post: #15

i did the GOMAD diet about 3 years ago. Yes, i did increased weight in a short time. The issue with this diet was my stomach couldn't handle it properly and drinking one galon of milk a day was pretty difficult. you start hating milk after a couple of weeks

Post: #16

If you're lactose intolerant or didn't grow up drinking milk on the regular, then it might not work for you.

I've always had milk in my diet, even as a kid, so my body maintained the ability to digest milk. I typically drink quite a bit, with no problems.

People get hung up on GOMAD, when in reality they could get by with half a gallon just fine and still gain weight.

The idea here is to put on 2-3 pounds a month. If you're putting on 1.5 lbs a week then you are simply consuming far too many calories and are going to store the excess as fat.

If you're a 16 year old kid who weighs 160 lbs who is playing football and lifting weights, this is a good cheap way to get calories.

Post: #17

You can easily make a high protein cheap weightgainer shake that is much healthier than drinking a gallon of milk. Oats/PB/Fruit/Whey blended together is tasty and relatively health in comparison. The only way GOMAD makes sense in my view is if you are a super skinny 16 year old with a crazy metabolism, in which case you can afford to put some fat on. For an older guy this is a sure fire path to get fat. Google frogtech for what GOMAD does to most people.

Post: #18

I did it for about a month, to the best of my recollection. Was my first attempt at self force feeding.

Pros:
- Weight did increase a small amount. Naturally, it's all going to be fat unless you're concurrently training.

Cons:
- Your stomach, even if you are not lactose-intolerant, will be intolerant of that much lactose. You're not designed to consume a gallon of milk -- that's the job of the calf. I had to change my work/seating habits to allow releasing of all the continuous and nasty resulting gas away from other people.
- Your bowels aren't designed to handle it either. You will be wrestling out your stools every bathroom visit.
- It will kill your appetite. You think you're getting ahead by it being 'additional'. But it's not additional because you can no longer stomach eating your normal real meals.
- (minor) You have to factor in obtaining or transporting it every day.

If you want to force feed, I would recommend these two options, which I found more successful (although ultimately not successful enough):
- Medical meal replacements. These are given to sick people in hospital who have difficulty eating, but not so much difficulty that they need IV. They are very thick, dense nutritional liquids, and very convenient because they come in normal drink cartons. Do a search, each country has different brand names/suppliers.
- Homemade bulking shakes. Instead of just taking straight milk, you blend it with other ingredients like nut spreads, protein/milk powder, oil (which you can dial in to adjust stool motility), oats etc.

Post: #19

Excessive consumption of dairy has been linked with an increased risk of prostate cancer.

Post: #20

it is extremely DUMB to commit in advance to such an excessive dairy consumption.

Post: #21

its absolutely awful to consume that much dairy, especially of the highly processed variety.

Post: #22

(12-26-2016 06:13 PM)John Michael Kane Wrote:  There has been some conflicting research to suggest that excess dairy consumption can lead to certain types of cancers. The most famous book that was written about this topic is called "The China Study". It is probably at your local library if you want to check it out.

The China Study has been debunked multiple times; the best of which is here: https://deniseminger.com/the-china-study/

Post: #23

(12-27-2016 03:42 AM)FretDancer Wrote:  Unless you skinny as a toothpick,

This pretty sums up much of my dilemma