If you're new here, you may want to subscribe to my RSS feed. Thanks for visiting!

I still hear people complaining that they can’t seem to get rid of their belly because they can’t bring themselves to give up cheese, or milk, or “insert other popular dairy product here.” 

Dairy products seem to be one of the first things cut from the diets of people who want to get lean.  Milk and milk based food items have become synonymous with gaining body fat, but what people don’t realize is that they’d be much better off by simply switching their high fat dairy products(whole milk, ice cream) with low fat dairy products(skim milk, low fat yogurt) rather than eliminating dairy all together.

Studies have shown that diets high in calcium tend to help the subjects burn more fat than is stored.  In a recent studies conducted by National Dairy Council,  subjects who followed a calorie restricted diet high in low fat dairy lost more body fat than subjects on a calorie restricted diet that limited dairy.  Research dictates that calcium stored in fat cells may play a very important role in the breakdown and storage of fat. 

Three to four servings of low fat, high calcium dairy products a day may really help to rev up the bodies fat burning capabilities.  Couple that with the fact that milk, yogurt and cheeses are all excellent sources of protein to help build lean muscle mass.

Though calcium from dairy products yielded the best results in preliminary lab studies, the lactose intolerant aren’t entirely left out in the cold.  It seems that calcium from any source can help the fat burning cause. Dark leafy greens, sardines, broccoli, and tofu are all excellent sources of calcium.

So if you don’t “Got Milk” and you’re looking to lose some flab, the maybe you should get some!