Despite the ads - More milk means more weight

[jinx]

Washington Post article.

The National Dairy Council has spent $200 million since 2003 to promote the idea that milk can help people lose weight. Some research has suggested that calcium or other elements in milk may cause the body to make less fat and speed its elimination, but the studies produced mixed results.

The study of more than 12,000 children nationwide found that the more milk they drank, the more weight they gained: Those consuming more than three servings each day were about 35 percent more likely to become overweight than those who drank one or two.

[xoxoxoBruce]

.

[Sundae]

Maybe greedy kids just drink more milk?

My brother, sister and I were milk fiends. We had 3 pints a day delivered to our house. We were all thin as a rail until we were in our 20s - my sister stayed thin through diet and lifestyle, my brother got a paunch that he exercises and diets off in spurts, and I became a pudding through over-eating and drinking.

[Undertoad]

Milk's calorie count is similar to that of juices and sodas.

[TheMercenary]

Which is why our kids all drink 2% and we eat low fat or no fat Cottage cheese.

[glatt]

We drink a lot of 1% milk in our household. Skinny, we are.

[jinx]

Those who drank more than three eight-ounce servings of milk a day gained the most weight, even after the researchers took into consideration factors such as physical activity, other dietary factors and growth. The association held, even though most of the children were drinking low-fat milk.

"That was surprising," Berkey said. "Apparently this applies to any kind of milk."

But

"There are a number of studies that show a positive effect of milk," said Michael B. Zemel of the University of Tennessee, who receives some funding from the dairy industry. "Increasing dairy augments the effects of cutting calories."

[footfootfoot]

An 8 oz glass of milk has as much fat as three slices of bacon.

[Drax]

"The take-home message is that children should not be drinking milk as a means of losing weight or trying to control weight," said Catherine S. Berkey

Do younger kids really care about this? IMO, no. They only want what food and beverages that taste good.

Also, the article doesn't even mention fat free milk, which I drink.

Yes, I'm fat according to the frakkin' BMI, l but it ain't from the milk.

[Undertoad]

Children consuming more than three servings each day were about 35 percent more likely to become overweight than those who drank one or two.

Reading for statistical and numerical literacy: those consuming 4, 5, 6, 7 or more cups of milk per day were 35% more likely to become overweight than those who drank 1 or 2.

One serving of whole milk:



If a child's diet is 1500 calories per day, 4 cups is 584 calories, approximately 40% of that. That's over a third of required calories just in beverage.

7 cups is 1022 calories or about 70% of the calories needed. So this outcome is expected.

[jinx]

Here's another article (USA Today), about men this time.

Scientists analyzed the data on weight change in about 20,000 men over a 12-year period. The men are participants in the Health Professionals Follow-up Study, an ongoing survey of data on men's health conducted by the Harvard School of Public Health.

Overall, men who increased their intake of low-fat dairy foods the most over 12 years did not lose more weight than those who decreased their intake of those foods the most, according to the findings in the March issue of The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition.
"The hypothesis that has been floating around is that increasing dairy can promote weight loss, and in this study, I did not find that," says Swapnil Rajpathak, assistant professor in the Department of Epidemiology and Population Health at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine in New York.

Much of the research supporting dairy's role in weight loss was done by Michael Zemel, director of the Nutrition Institute at the University of Tennessee in Knoxville.
In three small studies (about 30 people in each), Zemel found that dieters on reduced-calorie diets who had three daily servings of low-fat dairy products lost more weight and body fat than those who consumed one serving or less.

[xoxoxoBruce]

Doesn't it all come back to calories? More calories unburned = more weight gain.
I'm sure there are lots of fat people that eschew dairy products by choice or by circumstance... and skinny people that do a lot of dairy.

[TheMercenary]

Milk Type Amount Calories Kilojoules
Reduced Fat / Lite Milk

1 cup - 130 calories - 545 Kilojoules


Milk Type Amount Calories Kilojoules
Skim Non Fat

1 cup - 110 Calories - 460 - Kilojoules

http://www.positivehealthsteps.com/c...calories.shtml

Really the bigger issue and a good reason to drink milk is because the majority of the development of our bone matrix maxes out around the age of 20. Poor calcium intake in the growing years contributes to the formation of osteoprosis and poor bone maxtix in later years. For many of us it is to late. If we could get our kids to take a daily multi-vitamin that includes calcium it would help a lot, but most kids don't take them and most parents don't offer them.

Here is another counter. Be careful as the weight at the top must be selected. Includes all kinds of milk including human.
http://www.thecaloriecounter.com/Foo...79/1/Food.aspx

[jinx]

Merc, doesn't the high animal protein content in milk basically cancel out the calcium content?

"Osteoporosis is caused by a number of things, one of the most important being too much dietary protein."
{Science 1986;233, 4763}

And yes Bruce, I think I agree with you, although I wouldn't discount other factors if there was supportive evidence that wasn't a complete joke paid for by the industry that would benefit from it. This is what I disagree with;

"Increasing dairy augments the effects of cutting calories."

[Sundae]

Actually milk is not the best way to consume calcium, it is just the most culturally recognised and easiest to get children to swallow.