Overweight? Getting Enough Calcium?

Canadian researchers made an unexpected discovery when they were analyzing a 15-week weight loss program in obese women. They’ve published their findings in the British Journal of Nutrition.

In the study, 63 women of average age 43 and a BMI of 32 were given a reduced calorie diet, and either a calcium-plus-vitamin D supplement, or a placebo. The women’s daily intake of calcium from their food and drink was less than 800 mg daily. The calcium-plus-vitamin D supplement (1200 mg calcium daily) produced no significant difference in weight loss in over the 15 weeks.

However, when analyses were limited to very low calcium consumers only – 600 mg daily or less – those participants taking the supplement lost 13 lbs (nearly 6 kg) over the study, compared with a loss of 2.2 lb (1 kg) in the placebo group.

The researchers suggest that the brain can detect the lack of calcium and tries to compensate by stimulating food intake; this obviously will negate any weight loss program, so that adequate calcium intake is mandatory for would-be dieters. The recommended daily intake is 1,000 mg. Calcium-rich foods include milk, yogurt, ice-cream, cheese, dark-green vegetables, beans, and calcium-fortified cereals, orange juice, etc.