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 glass of milk instead of an hour
at the gym -- is this possible?
Of course, that's a stretch, so to
speak. No food, including milk, can eliminate the
need for regular exercise. I 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 still are 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, says 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 milks is not known. More research
is needed.
Sources...
Michael Zemel, PhD, director, The Nutrition
Institute, University of Tennessee, Knoxville.
