Milk – A Magic Weight Loss Potion?

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                We’ve all seen the advertisements that claim milk “does a body good.” Now, numerous research studies give that phrase a whole new meaning. Apparently, drinking milk not only builds strong teeth and bones, it also helps weight loss, lowers body fat and increases the body’s lean mass. A simple glass of milk instead of an hour at the gym – could this really be possible?

                Of course, that’s a stretch. No food, including milk, can eliminate the need for regular exercise. We spoke with Michael Zemel, PhD, director of the Nutrition Institute at the University of Tennessee in Knoxville, about these surprising findings.

                Although Dr. Zemel describes the effect of dairy on weight and fat control as substantial, he quickly adds that calories are still the main determinant. Dairy is not a magic potion, but it can help. With a modest reduction in caloric intake, you can lose almost twice as much weight by including dairy in your diet than you would otherwise. Even if you do not restrict calories, dairy will help you lose 5% or more body fat and have a corresponding increase in lean mass.

HOW IT WORKS

                Dr. Zemel explains the reason behind this. Too little calcium raises the level of a hormone called calcitriol in the body. This is bad news because calcitriol is part of what gets your body’s machinery going to produce more fat, and it interferes with the fat-burning mechanism.

                The result: You end up with bigger, fatter fat cells and reduced metabolic efficiency – in other words, fat burning slows. And there’s more. Dr. Zemel and his research team recently discovered that calcitriol inhibits the progress of normal programmed cell death, meaning that without adequate calcium, your body hangs on longer to those bigger, older fat cells instead of efficiently sloughing them off.

HOW ABOUT SUPPLEMENTS?

                Don’t look to calcium supplements for help, say Dr. Zemel. Although some people feel that calcium supplements would be effective as well, Dr. Zemel says that his research has found dairy to be the real deal. The calcium in dairy works synergistically with other bioactive components of milk to achieve this impact on the regulation of fat. For instance, there are specific amino acids in dairy that regulate and stimulate muscle protein synthesis, and this contributes to increasing lean mass.

                Furthermore, only three types of dairy products qualify to give this effect – milk, yogurt and hard cheese. You need three servings a day.

                Serving size: Eight ounces of milk or yogurt or one-and-a-half ounces of cheese.

                While both sheep’s and goat’s milk are rich in calcium, the extent to which the antiobesity-related bioactive compounds are found in these milk is not known. More research is needed.

References:

Michael Zemel, PhD, director, Nutrition Institute, University of Tennessee, Knoxville.