Associations between dairy consumption and body weight: a review of the evidence and underlying mechanisms

Abstract

As the incidence of obesity is reaching 'epidemic' proportions, there is currently widespread interest in the impact of dietary components on body-weight and food intake regulation. The majority of data available from both epidemiological and intervention studies provide evidence of a negative but modest association between milk and dairy product consumption and BMI and other measures of adiposity, with indications that higher intakes result in increased weight loss and lean tissue maintenance during energy restriction. The purported physiological and molecular mechanisms underlying the impact of dairy constituents on adiposity are incompletely understood but may include effects on lipolysis, lipogeneis and fatty acid absorption. Furthermore, accumulating evidence indicates an impact of dairy constituents, in particular whey protein derivatives, on appetite regulation and food intake. The present review summarises available data and provides an insight into the likely contribution of dairy foods to strategies aimed at appetite regulation, weight loss or the prevention of weight gain.

Dairy products and total calcium intake at 13 years of age and its association with obesity at 21 years of age

“…There was no evaluation for pubertal growth stage, seric concentrations of 1,25(OH) 2 D 3 and PTH, and calcium retention [49], that are important factors in calcium metabolism and utilization during adolescence [7]. The fact that only two follow-up evaluations being considered in the current study may difficult the analysis of a tracking effect.…”

“…Some review studies support the hypothesis that dairy consumption is inversely associated with the development of childhood obesity [5,7,8,15,16]. Observational studies have been showing results of a negative relationship between dairy consumption and body mass index (BMI) [17][18][19][20][21][22], body fat mass [23,24], abdominal circumference [21,[25][26][27] and skin folds [21,26] both cross-sectionally [21,[25][26][27] and longitudinally [17][18][19][20][22][23][24], however none of these studies evaluated calcium intake effect.…”

“…Since these entities are preponderant risk factors for cardiovascular disease, metabolic syndrome, and type 2 diabetes mellitus [4,5] efforts should be made to reduce this trend. Among the multiple modifiable risk factors, the role of calcium in the obesity pathophysiology needs to be clarified [2,6] and its importance in fat accumulation in children and adolescents remains to be definitely established [7][8][9].…”

“…In fact, the decrease in intracellular calcium induced by the decrease of parathyroid hormone (PTH) and 1,25(OH) 2 D 3 [11] promotes a decrease in lipogenesis and an increase in lipolysis and fat oxidation [7]. Furthermore, 1,25(OH) 2 D 3 also has a role in the size of fat storage inside adipocytes [12] and in their differentiation and proliferation [13].…”

“…Another explanation is that nutrients from dairy products can also be related to body fat regulation. For instance, conjugated linoleic acid and proteins influence fat accumulation and regulation of appetite, respectively [7].…”