Stock.xchng, Ale-Paiva
Have you ever given up putting milk in tea and coffee or stopped eating cheese in an effort to cut down on calories? If so, according to diet experts from Israel, it may not have been such a smart move.
The researchers claim people who drink milk or eat milk products lose more weight on average than slimmers who shun dairy. The key to milk's slimming success could be its vitamin D, say the scientists, since the dieters who had the highest vitamin D levels were those who lost the most weight.
The study, published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, was originally set up to evaluate different types of diets including low-fat, Mediterranean and low-carb plans.
But irrespective of which diet they were on, the volunteers who drank the most milk or ate the most dairy foods had lost about 12lb at the end of the two-year trial period, compared to a loss of just 7lb for those who consumed the least milk or dairy.
Granted, it wasn't a huge amount of weight lost overall, but if you could lose almost twice as many pounds as you would normally just by drinking to glasses of milk a day, it could be well worth a try, couldn't it?
Not just that, but the calcium and vitamin D in dairy is good for your bones, while vitamin D helps protect against diabetes, high blood pressure, heart disease and some types of cancer.
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