Milk can help you slim down

Milk has had a hard time in recent years. The preferred food of calves everywhere has been dubbed fattening (for humans), hard to digest and a trigger for allergies.

Now, University of Copenhagen research has shown that milk can actually help to prevent obesity. This is according to the Danish medical news site, Dagensmedicin.dk.

Researcher Janne Lonrenzen from the Faculty of Life Sciences has, in her PhD thesis, demonstrated a link between milk intake and the ability to eliminate fat from the body.

Hinders fat absorption

The calcium in dairy products reduces the increase of fat in the blood after high-fat meals, she says.

» Calcium from dairy products binds fatty acids, makes them less soluble and reduces absorption into the body. Thus, calcium affects the absorption of fat and may therefore help to prevent obesity« explains Janne Lorenzen in an interview with Dagens Medicin.

People on diets often choose to cut out dairy products entirely. However, the new study shows that this may be counterproductive.

According to Janne Lorenzen and her colleagues, a dietary increase of 1200 milligram of Calcium from milk each day could give a yearly weightloss of 2.2kg.

This may be a small decrease, but, for many dieters, every gram counts.

Milk not pills

However, any slimmers out there who are reaching for the calcium tablets should note that the research has also shown that calcium from milk has a far greater effect than that from dietary supplements.

Janne Lorenzens project is financially supported by Danish dairies. They do not, however, have any influence on the form or results of the project, she says.

luci@adm.ku.dk