Dairy may not help weight loss much after all

	Tweet

Downing lots of dairy food appears to do little in the short term for young women’s waistlines, despite earlier reports that eating dairy products can help people lose weight, new study findings show.

After following women for one year, Indiana researchers found that those who ate the most dairy—equivalent to 3 to 4 glasses of milk per day—were no more likely to gain or lose weight than people who took in no more than the equivalent of 1 glass of milk per day.

These findings suggest that if dairy products have any effect on body weight, it may take longer than a year to make a noticeable difference, study author Dr. Dorothy Teegarden of Purdue University in West Lafayette.

"It is likely that the effect of calcium or dairy products on preventing gain of body fat is relatively small, and therefore it will take a long time to see the changes,” she said.

“However, a small difference, potentially by consuming calcium or dairy, may make a big difference over several years,” she added.

Now that obesity has become a major public health concern, researchers are looking for ways to shrink the nation’s growing waistline. An increasing amount of evidence has suggested that the more calcium people get, the more likely they are to lose weight.

For instance, in one study that followed 54 young women for 2 years, investigators found that the more calcium women consumed, the more weight and body fat they lost.

However, not all studies have linked calcium to weight loss, with some showing that it appears to have no effect on body fat or weight. To investigate further, Teegarden and her colleagues followed 155 women between the ages of 18 and 30 for one year, noting their intake of calcium and whether their weight changed.

Women’s preference for calcium appeared to have no effect on their body fat or weight, the authors report in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition.

Teegarden explained that it was “not surprising” that women didn’t lose weight, given that they were all young, active, and already at a healthy weight. “We expected women of this age to gain weight,” she said. She noted that the original purpose of the study was to determine if calcium helps stop women from gaining weight. However, since none of the women - even low-calcium consumers - appeared to gain weight, this study sheds little light on whether calcium has any impact on weight gain, she noted.

“We can definitely say that adding dairy to your diet does not increase weight or body fat,” Teegarden said.

SOURCE: American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, April 2005.

RELATED STORIES:
Weight in pregnancy best controlled by diet, study shows   FDA advisers recommend approving weight loss drug   Bridal Hunger Games   Exercise, Group Support Work for Weight Loss   Misperception of weight is an important barrier to weight loss   Obesity drugs need heart studies, U.S. advisers say   Weight Loss Surgery and Diabetes: Expert Interview Opportunity   New evidence on effects of green coffee beans in weight loss   Chocolate lovers tend to weigh less: study   Weight loss won’t necessarily help teen girls’ self-esteem   How to Best Help Your Child Lose Weight: Lose Weight Yourself   Qnexa: Is the new anti-obesity drug too risky?

Comments

[ + Post Your Own ]

Now you're in the public comment zone. What follows is not Armenian Medical Network's stuff; it comes from other people and we don't vouch for it. A reminder: By using this Web site you agree to accept our Terms of Service. Click here to read the Rules of Engagement.

There are no comments for this entry yet. [ + Comment here + ]