Drink More Milk and Lose Weight?

Can Dairy Actually Help You Lose Weight?

We have all seen the ads on television and in our magazines. They show celebrities with milk moustaches and the line reads drink milk and lose weight. But is this true?

The Dairy council says it is. They recommend that we add three dairy products to our daily diet. To lose this weight, we should drink the low-fat varieties of these products. But they also say you must also reduce our daily calorie intake as well as exercise. 

The recommendation is 24 ounces or three servings. Many doctors and health professionals believe that milk can cause us to lose weight, especially around the middle of our body (the hardest area to lose). They also say that drinking more milk will help us to keep the muscle that we should be building with exercise.

Another benefit they say you get from milk and dairy products is that they fill you up quicker. This means you are able to eat less. The proteins in dairy products takes longer for our body to digest because of the water content. This is why we seem fuller, quicker.

Plus, we all know that dairy products contain calcium. Milk is highly known as the best source of calcium.

But can it help us lose weight? Some critics say no.

The Washington Post reported back in 2005, that a study was done on children, who drank more than three servings of dairy a day. The conclusion was that the children gained more weight.

The study also proved mixed results to the idea that calcium in milk can speed up the elimination of fat in our bodies.

Yet, to be fair. The Dairy council recommended only three servings of dairy a day, not more than three.

Michael Zemel, the director of Nutrition at the University of Tennessee did three studies with 30 people in each study. He found that those who stayed on the three dairy products a day diet lost more weight and more amount of fat than those who did not use any dairy products. He also believes that the calcium alone may help people lose weight and if added to a dairy product the effect will be amplified. He is still doing studies on this.

His research is being funded by the Dairy Industry and General Mills (which makes Youplait products).