Somebody tell the Dairy Council

A study in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition examined the association between calcium and dairy intake and long-term weight change in US men. In an analysis of questionnaires sent to 19,615 health professionals between the years of 1986 and 1998, scientists found that a change in intake of total calcium, including calcium from dairy products, was not significantly associated with a change in weight. This was true even when evaluating dietary, dairy, or supplemental calcium separately rather than as total calcium intake from all sources.

Rather than losing weight, as the dairy council might have us believe, the men with the largest increase in total dairy intake actually gained slightly more weight over the course of the 12-year study than those who decreased their dairy intake the most. The scientists attribute this change to an increase in high-fat dairy products; low-fat dairy intake was not associated with weight change. (Am J Clin Nutr 2006;83(3):559-66)

What this means for you

Take your calcium, but don’t expect to lose weight because of it.

First posted: April 19, 2006