Milk And Weight Loss- A Slimmer's Breakthrough, Or Not?

Most people know that to lose weight, they'll need to eat less and move more. However, new research suggests you may have better luck if you include milk in your new routine. Milk is one of the main providers of calcium, a mineral that not only helps to keep bones strong, but may also help us lose weight.

A lot of people on weight loss programs avoid milk and dairy products because they think these are ‘fattening’. In fact, a pint of skimmed milk contains just 190 calories and 0.6g fat, while a pint of semi-skimmed milk contains 260 calories and 9g fat – that’s less than most small chocolate bars!
But by ditching dairy, slimmer’s are not only missing out on bone-building calcium, they’re also missing out on a potentially important fat fighter!

Researchers at Purdue University in Indiana found that young, normal weight women who had 1,000mg of calcium every day – the amount of calcium found in about 1½ pints of semi-skimmed milk – lost about 6lb over two years.
The researchers found that the women who had maintained a high-dairy/high-calcium intake over the entire 18-month period had significantly lower fat mass compared to the women with lower calcium and dairy intakes (less than 800 mg of calcium per day). Another interesting fact they found was that increasing dairy intake appeared to suppress a hormone that helped increase fat oxidation, or the amount of fat that's burned.

Leading calcium expert, Dr Michael Zemel and colleagues, analyzed the diets of 32 obese adults and discovered that those people eating three servings of low-fat dairy products a day lost more than 10% of their body weight. In contrast, those taking calcium supplements or those who had little calcium or dairy in their diet lost only 8% and 6% of their body weight, respectively.
All this research suggests that calcium can help a weight loss program, but the effect seems to be more dramatic when it’s taken in the form of dairy products.

More work needs to be carried out to confirm the findings of these studies, but so far, results look promising. Consequently, don’t be tempted to ditch the dairy and instead make sure you include low-fat products in your diet – aim for three servings daily E.g., a glass of milk, 1 cup of low-fat yogurt and a piece of low-fat cheese or paneer (Indian cottage cheese).

Your taste buds, bones and waistline will love you for it, and it could be better for your health than you think!

So, let us know if you have tried it, and whether it has worked for you?

By. Kanchan Saggi,
Dietitian, www.NutritionVista.com


Reference:
•    Eagan MS, Lyle RM, Gunther CW, Peacock M, Teegarden D. Effect of 1-year dairy product intervention on fat mass in young women: 6-month follow-up. Obesity. 2006;14:2242-2248.

•    Gunther GW, Lyle RM, Legowski PA, James JM, McCabe LD, McCabe GP, Peacock M, Teegarden D. Fat oxidation and its relation to serum parathyroid hormone in young women enrolled in a 1-y dairy calcium intervention. American Journal of Clinical Nutrition. 2005; 82: 1228-1234.

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