Every day society seems to hear about a new, easy diet that will keep the pounds off. But new research is showing that the dairy diet may be for real. If you keep your fridge full of milk, cheese, and yogurt, you may have an easier time losing those extra pounds and burning fat without cutting back on calories.
Recent studies have shown that overweight adults who ate a lot of dairy foods lost a lot more fat and weight than those who at a low-dairy diet with the same calories.
Researchers have noted that with the dairy diet, it is possible to almost double the rate of weight and fat loss without cutting too many calories.
Studies have also shown that with the dairy diet, eating three to four servings of dairy products each day works better at boosting weight loss efforts than calcium supplements or foods that have had calcium added to them artificially.
Studies in the past had indicated that people who ate foods rich with calcium were better at losing weight, but recent studies show that more is at work here than just the calcium content.
In a recent study on the dairy diet, scientists studied the effects of three different calorie-restricted diets on weight loss in 32 overweight adults. Each person cut their daily calorie intake by about 500 calories per day for 24 weeks and were divided into three groups:
High-dairy. The total amount of calcium ingested per day was 1,200-1,300 milligrams per day from three to four servings of dairy foods, specifically milk, hard cheese, and yogurt.
High-calcium supplemented/low-dairy. Total calcium intake was 1,200-1,300 milligrams per day with no more than one serving of dairy per day plus an 800-milligram calcium supplement.
Low-calcium/low-dairy. Total calcium intake was 400-500 milligrams per day with only one serving of dairy per day and a placebo supplement.
The study subjects were allowed to choose from fat-free, low-fat, and regular milk, cheese, and yogurt. They often selected fat-free and low-fat milk and yogurt and regular cheeses, while keeping their overall fat intake the same.
Serving sizes were 8 ounces, or a cup for milk and yogurt and 1.5 ounces of hard cheese (about the size of six dice) or 2 ounces of processed cheese.
If you want to try the dairy diet yourself, remember to look for low-fat options. Try to stick to three grams of fat or less per serving. Try 1 percent milk and eat low-fat and fat-free yogurt. Also remember to eat normal serving sizes. An 8-ounce cup of dairy is one serving, which equals 300-400 mg of calcium. 1 or 2 ounces of cheese would also be one serving.