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Dairy Foods Help Burn Fat, Speed Weight Loss
April 16, 2004 -- Stocking the refrigerator with milk, cheese, and yogurt may make it easier to lose those extra pounds and burn fat without cutting back drastically on calories, according to new research.
Although calories still count, the study showed that obese adults who ate a high-dairy diet lost significantly more weight and fat than those who ate a low-dairy diet containing the same number of calories.
"If you compare a dairy-rich versus a dairy-poor diet you can nearly double the rate of weight and fat loss with the same level of calorie restriction," says researcher Michael Zemel, PhD, professor of nutrition and medicine at the University of Tennessee in Knoxville.
Zemel says the study also showed that eating three to four servings of dairy products a day is more effective at enhancing weight loss efforts than calcium supplementation alone with pills or calcium-fortified foods.
The study appears in the April issue of Obesity Research and was supported by the National Dairy Council, a WebMD sponsor.
Previous studies have already shown that dieters who eat a calcium-rich diet are more successful at losing weight, but this study indicates that it's more than just the calcium in dairy products that helps shed pounds.
"Calcium is a critical factor in controlling what your body does with calories, and dairy is an even more critical factor," says Zemel. "Without changing how many calories we take away, we can alter how much weight and fat you lose."
Dairy Products Beat Calcium for Weight Loss
In the study, researchers compared the effects of three different calorie-restricted diets on weight loss in 32 obese adults. Each of the participants reduced their daily calorie intake by about 500 calories per day for 24 weeks and were divided into three groups:
- High-dairy. Total calcium intake of 1,200-1,300 milligrams per day from three to four servings of dairy foods, specifically milk, hard cheese, and yogurt.
- High-calcium supplemented/low-dairy. Total calcium intake of 1,200-1,300 milligrams per day made up of no more than one serving of dairy per day plus an 800-milligram calcium supplement.
- Low-calcium/low-dairy. Total calcium intake of 400-500 milligrams per day with no more than one serving of dairy per day and a placebo supplement.
Researchers say participants were free to choose from fat-free, low-fat, and regular milk, cheese, and yogurt. They typically picked fat-free and low-fat milk and yogurt and regular cheeses, while keeping their overall fat intake the same.
Serving sizes were 8 ounces or a cup for milk and yogurt and 1.5 ounces of hard cheese (about the size of six dice) or 2 ounces of processed cheese, such as two slices of American cheese.
The study showed that all of the groups lost weight, but those who ate the dairy-rich diet lost the most with an average of 24 pounds compared with 19 pounds in the calcium supplement group and 15 pounds in the low-calcium/low-dairy group.
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