Milk May Boost Weight Loss

Drinking a cup or two of milk a day might help overweight dieters lose even more weight. In a new study, dieters who consumed milk or milk products lost more weight on average than those who did not.Researchers in Israel placed more than 300 overweight men and women ages 40 to 65 on either a low-fat, low-carb or Mediterranean diet for two years. Regardless of meal plan, dieters who drank 12 ounces (a cup and a half) of milk each day lost 12 pounds at the end of two years, compared to only 7 pounds for dieters who drank less than half a cup of milk per day, according to their research published today in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition. For each extra 6 ounces of milk per day — about three-quarters of a cup — dieters lost an additional 10 pounds in six months.

The researchers found that people who lost weight increased levels of Vitamin D in their blood, supporting other studies that found obesity is linked with the lack of Vitamin D. Soaking up rays of sun can naturally produce Vitamin D, as can drinking fortified milk, fatty fish and eggs. Four cups of milk has the recommended 400 international units (IU) of Vitamin D that recent studies show Americans aren’t getting. To see more of The Orlando Sentinel or to subscribe to the newspaper, go to http://www.OrlandoSentinel.com. Copyright © 2010, The Orlando Sentinel, Fla. Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services.