High calcium intake can lead to weight loss in women

NEW YORK, Jan 25 (Reuters Health) - Young women who are trying to lose weight often eschew dairy products because they tend to be high in fat. But a recent study reports that women with the highest intake of calcium from dairy foods--relative to the number of calories they consumed each day--lost the most weight and body fat over 2 years, regardless of exercise.

"These results have important implications for preventing weight and fat mass increases in young women aged 18 to 31 years, a time when overall weight begins to increase with advancing age," according to Dr. Dorothy Teegarden and colleagues from Purdue University in West Lafayette, Indiana.

Based on their findings, the researchers suggest that public health recommendations for calcium targeting young women should emphasize weight maintenance in addition to bone health.

The findings, published in the December issue of the Journal of the American College of Nutrition, support previous research showing that individuals who consume the most calcium have lower body fat.

But exactly how calcium affects body weight and fat is not clear. The report indicates that a component of dairy products not analyzed in the study, such as conjugated linoleic acid, may be responsible. Calcium from dairy and non-dairy sources may also replace another nutrient.

In other findings, average daily intake of calcium was 781 milligrams (mg) per day--below the recommended level of 1,000 mg daily for young women. Dairy calcium accounted for 69% of total calcium intake.

And women who consumed the highest level of vitamin A gained the most weight and body fat over 2 years, a finding that warrants further study, the researchers note.

The authors conclude that both calcium and vitamin A have a major impact on body weight and body fat. They recommend that young women who want to lose weight consume about 1,950 calories a day, 5,000 international units (IU) of vitamin A, and 1,000 mg of calcium.

SOURCE: Journal of the American College of Nutrition 2000;19:754-760.