High intake of dairy during energy restriction does not affect energy balance or the intestinal microflora compared with low dairy intake in overweight individuals in a randomized controlled trial

Abstract

During weight loss, dairy calcium is proposed to accelerate weight and fat-mass loss through increased fecal fat excretion. The primary objective was to investigate if a high-dairy energy-restricted diet is superior to low dairy in terms of changes in body weight, body composition, and fecal fat excretion over 24 weeks. Secondary objectives included fecal energy and calcium excretion, resting energy expenditure, blood pressure, lipid metabolism, and gut microbiota. In a randomized, parallel-arm intervention study, 11 men and 69 women (body mass index, 30.6 ± 0.3 kg/m; age, 44 ± 1 years) were allocated to a 500-kcal (2100 kJ) -deficit diet that was either high (HD: 1500 mg calcium/day) or low (LD: 600 mg calcium/day) in dairy products for 24 weeks. Habitual calcium intake was ∼1000 mg/day. Body weight loss (HD: -6.6 ± 1.3 kg, LD: -7.9 ± 1.5 kg, P = 0.73), fat-mass loss (HD: -7.8% ± 1.3%, LD: -8.5% ± 1.1%, P = 0.76), changes in fecal fat excretion (HD: -0.57 ± 0.76 g, LD: 0.46 ± 0.70 g, P = 0.12), and microbiota composition were similar for the groups over 24 weeks. However, total fat-mass loss was positively associated with relative abundance of Papillibacter (P = 0.017) independent of diet group. Consumption of a high-dairy diet did not increase fecal fat or accelerate weight and fat-mass loss beyond energy restriction over 24 weeks in overweight and obese adults with a habitual calcium intake of ∼1000 mg/day. However, this study indicates that Papillibacter is involved in body compositional changes.

The effects of dairy and dairy derivatives on the gut microbiota: a systematic literature review

“…In a 24-week RCT, Bendtsen et al 46 observed that the quantity of dairy consumed did not result in significant changes to gut microbiota composition (genus or taxa level) in obese subjects. Participants in this trial were randomized to receive either a hypocaloric diet with high dairy intake or hypocaloric diet with low dairy intake.…”

“…Of the eight studies included, seven assessed the effect of dairy type (milk, yogurt, and kefir) and dairy derivatives (whey and casein) on the gut microbiota, [39][40][41][42][43][44][45] and one study assessed the effect of consumed dairy quantity (high dairy vs low dairy) on the gut microbiota. 46 The mean age of the participants was 39 years (range 32-44 years). Seven out of eight studies included both males and females [40][41][42][43][44][45][46] with one study including only males.…”

“…46 The mean age of the participants was 39 years (range 32-44 years). Seven out of eight studies included both males and females [40][41][42][43][44][45][46] with one study including only males. 39 Studies were conducted in several countries including Switzerland, France, Denmark, Turkey, Japan, United States of America, and Canada (Table 2).…”

“…However, the relative abundance of genus Veillonella reduced between baseline and week 24 in the low dairy group (Table 4). 46…”

Effect of High versus Low Dairy Consumption on the Gut Microbiome: Results of a Randomized, Cross-Over Study

“…The addition of 250 mL whole milk to the diet of lactose malabsorbers compared to absorbers increased Actinobacteria, Bifidobacterium, Anaerostipes and Blautia in both groups [8]. In a parallel group, randomized trial in overweight adults, the effect of high dairy intake during an energy restriction diet on weight loss was studied: no significant differences were found in composition of the gut microbiome between subjects with a high-dairy diet (HDD) versus subjects with a low-dairy diet (LDD) [9].…”