Is milk good for weight loss?

is milk good for weight loss?

Milk is an essential part of our food culture and it is a beverage that provides essential macronutrients and micronutrients. It plays a valuable part in our balanced diet. Milk is a fluid which is made up of almost 88 % water and the remaining 11 to 12 % consists of all the other constituents. answering is milk good for weight loss.

Milk is also used to make several other products such as cream, butter, curd/yogurt, ghee, kefir and cheese which are consumed all over the world. It is such a versatile food that it can be made into so many products and that makes consumption of milk quite interesting.

Composition of milk and is milk good for weight loss?

The major component of milk is water which is about 88 %. Milk also contains protein 3.15 %, lipids 3.25 % and carbohydrates 4.8 % (1). It is a good source of several minerals such as calcium, phosphorous and vitamins like vitamin A, vitamin D, choline and vitamin B₁₂.

Overweight and obesity

Now answering the important question, is milk good for weight loss?

The number of people who are overweight and obese has been increasing at an alarming rate globally in the past few decades. A person is categorised under the class of obese when the body mass index (BMI) is ≥ 30. Globally obesity has tripled since 1975. In the year 2016, more than 1.9 billion adults, were overweight. Among these over 650 million were obese (2).

Because of the increase in number of people affected with obesity people are looking for foods that not only provide nutrients but in some way contribute towards weight loss too, answering the above question – is milk good for weight loss?

Is drinking milk good for weight loss?

From the results of a study, it was seen that milk and milk products have a positive effect on abdominal obesity that is they contribute towards the reduction of waist circumference which is a significant predictor of metabolic syndrome (3).

A diet containing milk and milk products reduces the risk of childhood obesity and dairy products also improve body composition in adults. Overweight and obesity are risk factors for developing type 2 diabetes, so is milk good for weight loss? Let’s see(4).

Dairy products and their effect on weight loss were looked at in a meta-analysis of randomized controlled studies. On increasing, dairy products consumption as part of an energy-restricted diet resulted in a higher loss of body weight and fat mass and at the same time decreased loss of lean mass in women (5).

The proposed mechanisms for this weight loss garnered from literature and presented in the study was that

• calcium may increase faecal fat excretion
• milk protein and its peptides may support muscle protein synthesis and may regulate appetite
• fatty acids in milk may regulate appetite and affect energy balance by increasing fat burning and decreasing fat synthesis

In a meta-analysis of work done on dairy products and weight loss they concluded unless calories are restricted there is not much effect of dairy products on weight loss. And on restricted calorie diet or on short term basis they have a modest effect on facilitating weight loss (6).

Milk may or may not help reduce weight as the results available till now are not consistent but it definitely is a good source of essential nutrients.

Complications of obesity

Because of obesity certain complications may arise such as type 2 diabetes, cardiovascular diseases, hypertension and cancer. Milk and milk products seem to have a protective effect when coming to these chronic diseases and they reduce the risk of developing them (4).

Final word on is milk good for weight loss?

Milk and milk products and their effect on weight loss is not very clear. The mass of evidence available though promising is not consistent. But at the same time dairy products seem to protect us from chronic diseases.

Take milk in moderation as a food that supplies many important nutrients and at the same time may promote our health. Incorporate milk and milk products into your balanced diet regularly.

References

1. United States Department of Agriculture, USDA Food Composition Databases.
   https://ndb.nal.usda.gov/ndb/search/list

2. World Health Organization (2018). Obesity and overweight
   https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/obesity-and-overweight

3. Romaguera, D., Ängquist, L., Du, H., Jakobsen, M.U., Forouhi, N.G., Halkjær J, Feskens, E. J. M., Van der, D. L. A., Masala, G., Steffen, A., Palli, D., Wareham, N.J., Overvad, K., Tjønneland, A., Boeing, H., Riboli, E. and Sørensen, T.I. (2010) Dietary determinants of changes in waist circumference adjusted for body mass index – a proxy measure of visceral adiposity, PloS one. Vol. 5(7).
   https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2904387/

4. Thorning, T. K., Raben, A., Tholstrup, T., Soedamah-Muthu, S. S., Givens, I. and Astrup, A. (2016) Milk and dairy products: good or bad for human health? An assessment of the totality of scientific evidence, Food & nutrition research. Vol. 60.
   https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5122229/https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5122229/

5. Stonehouse, W., Wycherley, T., Luscombe-Marsh, N., Taylor, P., Brinkworth, G. and Riley, M. (2016) Dairy Intake Enhances Body Weight and Composition Changes during Energy Restriction in 18-50-Year-Old Adults-A Meta-Analysis of Randomized Controlled Trials, Nutrients. Vol. 8(7).
   https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4963870/

6. Chen, M., Pan, A., Malik, V. S. and Hu, F. B. (2012) Effects of dairy intake on body weight and fat: a meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials, The American journal of clinical nutrition. Vol. 96(4).
   https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3441106/