Originally published September 22 2005
Dairy doesn't have weight loss benefits, study finds
by Mike Adams, the Health Ranger, NaturalNews Editor
Despite claims that dairy products are an effective weight loss aid, a new study says high levels of calcium do not appear to be linked to weight loss after all.
A lot media attention has focused recently on dairy food as a dieting aid, but a new study shows that high levels of calcium do not appear to boost weight loss beyond the effects of calorie restriction.
"More data is necessary before high-dairy, high-calcium diets can be relied on to cause weight loss," Dr. Warren G. Thompson of the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota, the study's lead author, told Reuters Health.
Some research has suggested high calcium intake -- especially in the form of dairy products -- helps to burn fat and speed weight loss, Thompson and his team note in the journal Obesity Research.
To investigate whether a dairy-rich diet might help people drop pounds faster, they compared three different reduced-calorie diets in 72 obese adults.
One group followed a standard diet including two servings of dairy each day, the second ate a similar diet but included four servings of dairy daily, and the third group ate a high-fiber, low glycemic index diet that also included four daily helpings of dairy.
All study participants lost about 10 kilograms (22 pounds) of total body weight and about 8 kilograms (17.6 pounds) of fat.
All also showed improvements in levels of blood fats and sugars, but again there were no differences seen among people on the different diets.
Based on the findings, Thompson told Reuters Health, people should stick to current recommendations on calcium intake when dieting.
It is possible, he notes, that calcium intake lower than that investigated in the study could slow weight loss.
"We need larger trials in multiple centers to more accurately answer these questions," he concluded.
The study was funded by the National Dairy Council.
As the organization notes in a press statement, dieters can benefit from the nutritional value of dairy products and still lose weight.
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