Yogurt May Help Burn Fat, Promote
Weight Loss
March 18, 2005
By Jennifer Warner
Adding yogurt to your diet may rev up your body’s
fat-burning engines, speed weight loss, and trim your
tummy, according to a new study.
Researchers found that obese adults who ate three servings
of fat-free yogurt a day as part of a reduced-calorie
diet lost 22 percent more weight and 61 percent more
body fat that those who simply cut calories and didn’t
bone up on calcium. Yogurt eaters also lost 81 percent
more fat in the stomach area than non-yogurt eaters.
“Not only did yogurt help the study participants
lose more weight — the average weight loss was
14 pounds — they were about twice as effective
at maintaining lean muscle mass,” says researcher
Michael Zemel, PhD, professor of nutrition at the University
of Tennessee, in a news release. “This is a critical
issue when dieting — you want to lose fat, not
muscle. Muscle helps burn calories, but it is often
compromised during weight loss.”
The results appear in the April issue of the International
Journal of Obesity.
Researchers say the results add to a growing body of
evidence that the calcium and protein derived from eating
low-fat dairy products may help burn fat and promote
weight loss.
Calcium, Yogurt May Fight Fat
In the study, researchers compared the effects of adding
yogurt to a reduced-calorie diet on weight loss in 34
healthy obese adults who were divided into two groups.
For 12 weeks, the first group ate three 6-ounce servings
of fat-free yogurt providing about 1,100 milligrams
of calcium per day; the other group ate only one serving
of dairy providing 400-500 milligrams of calcium per
day. Both groups ate a controlled diet that contained
500 fewer calories than normal to stimulate weight loss.
As expected, all of the participants lost weight as
a result of the calorie restriction. But the study showed
that both weight and fat loss were significantly greater
in the yogurt group.
For example, those on the low-calcium diet lost an
average of 11 pounds, but those on the high-calcium
yogurt diet lost an average of more than 14 pounds.
Participants on the yogurt diet also lost 81 percent
more fat in the stomach area, which is the most dangerous
type of fat. Excess fat in the midsection has been linked
to an increased risk of heart disease, diabetes, stroke,
and some forms of cancer.
More Information Needed on Calcium and Weight
Loss
In an editorial that accompanies the study, Ruth Harris,
associate professor of foods and nutrition at the University
of Georgia, says the results of the study are impressive
and provide additional evidence for calcium and dairy
protein playing a role in determining body weight and
fat.
But she says researchers have yet to identify the scientific
reasoning behind these proposed fat-burning effects.
“The possibility the increased levels of dietary
calcium can reduce body weight or exaggerate weight
loss is attracting an increasing amount of attention,”
writes Harris. “For many in the scientific community,
however, it is difficult to embrace the efficacy of
dietary calcium and dairy protein without a good understanding
of the mechanisms responsible for the loss of body fat.”
The study was supported by the Bell Institute of Health
and Nutrition, General Mills Inc., which makes Yoplait.
Source:www.foxnews.com
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