Got milk? For weight loss, don't bother

Posing for a "Got Milk?" ad wearing a milk mustache has become a symbol of stardom. Brooke Shields is the latest "Got Milk" cover girl, following Glenn Close, Mariska Hargitay and Laila Ali. But some nutritionists are warning consumers they won't achieve a Brooke Shields-like body by consuming dairy products.

In a lengthy review published Thursday  in the journal Nutrition Reviews, researchers concluded that consuming calcium or dairy products does not help people lose weight or maintain their current weight. Of the 49 studies analyzed, they said, two showed dairy consumption was linked with weight gain and 41 showed no effect. The only studies that show  dairy consumption contributes to weight loss were funded by the dairy industry, they said.

Last year, the Federal Trade Commission forced two national dairy organizations to stop claiming that dairy consumption can cause weight loss. Now the "Got Milk" ads state:

"Studies suggest the nutrients in three glasses of lowfat or fat free milk a day can help maintain a healthy weight."

Consumers would do well not to be swayed by a milk mustache on a pretty face. On the other hand, the lead author of the current paper in Nutrition Reviews, Dr. Amy Joy Lanou, is a senior nutrition scientist with the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine. That group is vehemently anti-dairy and believes that dairy products are not needed in the diet at all.

If we can find someone who is unbiased on this, we'll get back to you.

--Shari Roan

Photo: Milk Processor Education Program / Associated Press

 

Comments

[Shelly Walker]

The 'milk does a body good' is a fallacy! I went off of dairy 2 mos ago and feel so much better! No more gunk in my sinuses/throat! & I've dropped 20 #'s!! I have more energy than ever! And I'm getting plenty of calcium in my leafy greens, broccoli & spinach!! Don't believe the fallacy that we need dairy!!! Also, have you seen little kids w/red, puffy eyes?? I have and most of them have dairy allergies! Meaning, milk can do the body harm!! The only dairy I like - and seem to digest ok - is yogurt & kefir - due to the probiotics, they're valuable dietary additions and digest well. I've also gone to goat's milk cheese - feta cheese - for salads, etc, and that seems to digest ok... otherwise bye-bye! We've also substituted almond milk for cereal (yum! after you get used to it!:) and rice milk ice cream - also yum!! - and a rice milk/almond milk milkshake - muy yum!! :) So, try it for a couple of weeks, then start adding it back in little by little and see what you think!! It made a believer out of me!! (and don't get me started on wheat/gluten!:) It's amazing to me that I've had trouble losing weight my entire life, even tho I thought I was eating 'healthy'!! And, all I had to do was eliminate wheat and dairy and it's sliding off like crazy!! -even tho I'm pre-menopausal!! AMAZING!!! :)

[Ronald Lee]

Like everything else in life, if done in moderation it is good, but if done excessively definitely not healthy. It is the butterfat in whole milk that gives you the mouth feel and taste. Non-fat milk maybe the way to go IF want minimize your fat and calorie intake. Eating sugarless ready-to-eat cereal with non-fat skim milk and dried or fresh fruit is a healthy food.

[Randy Smith]

I think that drinking milk is healthy, but the consumption of milk is probably weight neutral. It's probably more important to not overeat and exercise daily. Okla. City

[CaliforniaDreaming]

They are going to have to a lot better than Brooke Shields to convince me to drink milk! I don't think she is widely regarded as a paragon of hotness.

[ryan]

Dairy milk is the perfect food for baby cows. Last time I checked I wasn't a bovine

[Chris Lewis]

Another media publication who can't see Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine is a wealthy animal rights group not a mainstream health advisor; it other words, they are another arm PETA. As Dr. Dean Edell says, "don't me fooled, friends.: Search on youtube for Dr. Dean Edell and PCRM for the full story.

[Frank]

Moderation is ignored by the dairy industry and the health freak police....so sad....We are labeled mammals. Milk is a natural wholesome food if used in moderation. My 92 year old aunt has a small glass of milk everyday. She is out and about everyday (no longer driving). However, three glasses of lowfat or fat free milk a day is not moderation. FYI, the fat has nutrients that are lost in fat free milk

As for the ice cream substitutes, if you wish to live such a plain life unwilling to savor the wonderful flavors of life, be my guest. I will continue to splurge occassionally.

[JenA]

Characteristics of a person who rants that we should all give up dairy:
1) white
2) over 40
3) female (usually)
4) control freak
5) future sufferer of 'fibromyalgia' (a made-up disease for those seeking attention in their lives)

I have seen it too many times not to notice...

Signed,
A white female who loves butter, yogurt, milk, and eggs (along with everything else!)

[Sula Baye]

The major flaw in the ad is that Brooke Shields is not as slim as she is depicted in the picture, which in and of itself, belies the entire assertion of the ad.

[Jack Murphy]

I love yogurt, frozen yogurt, and ice cream (once in awhile) I have low cholestrol though and I eat oatmeal daily. I don't drink milk. It coats my vocal chords and I am a singer(church choir). If you don't drink milk daily its probably a good idea to have your bone density checked. Mine came out +0.3. If you are under 0.0 the nurses will tell you to drink milk. My wife drinks milk and she came out +1.2. Some brands of OJ are now fortified with calcium and can be good substitute for milk. Calcium from calcium citrate (pills) is also a way to raise your bone density.

[Alley Oop]

A cup of low fat 1% skim milk has about 100 calories. And like anything else, weight gain and weight loss is all about calories and nothing else.
Excellent source of calcium, protein and fat. ( yes fat is a very essential and necessary part of the diet. Dieting people usually don't get enough fat )
Again, it's all about the total intake of calories. One cup of milk at night before bedtime helps sleep.

[chieromancer]

It's been said the only thing that should drink cow's milk is baby cows.

The exception may be fermented milk, like yogurt or kefir.

Lots of people are lactose-intolerant and don't realize it.

No one needs to drink milk. Period.

[Karen from Canada]

The ability to to breakdown lactose is a genetic trait with people of northern European decent. Most humans are lactose intolerant. In fact kids in Thailand for example don't drink milk daily nor do their parents. We should look at the osteoporosis rates countries where dairy is not part of their dietary regimine.
We should question the lobbying power of the Dairy Board. And finally ask ourselves why would the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine believe that dairy products are not needed in the diet at all?

PS I am a non-white Canadian, over 40, who isn't a contol freak and eats lots of greens.

[lezboy]

Adults don't need any type of milk, human or bovine. Can you imagine anyone getting down on their hands and knees to suckle from a cow's udder? What a scam. Just goes to show how powerful the dairy industry is.

That being said, I really like high quality ice cream every so often, but I can't say I consider it health food.

[nutritionist]

Pasteurized milk is a problem because the proteins have been denatured by heat. RAW MILK is far superior.

@Shelly Walker: The amount of calcium you get from leafy greens probably is not enough long-term due to the degradation of the nutrient load in crop land. Try sheep or goat milk products - the lipids are not as "clumped" as in cow milk and are MUCH easier to digest...

Easy way (ONLY SUSTAINABLE WAY...) to loose weight: eat less carbs (particularly refined sugar) and do more exercise....

[Silvio Pimenta]

For years I have had this stand and most people look at me like I'm crazy when I refuse milk or dairy products. It's very inconvenient because the industry has done a pretty good job in making most of us believe and take for granted that dairy is good for people. Maybe for semantic problems people confuse being mammals with having to dring milk. Not even cows drink cow's milk. But the industry has to sell it to someone. Now, which animal is most likely to buy it...

[Daphni]

I drank a lot of skim milk when I was a child and never broke any bones skiing or falling off horses. My teeth were great until I started eating too many sweets a couple years ago. I don't seem to have started the decline of bone loss yet and am in my 60's. My milk allergic mother shrank 5 inches by the time she passed away at 77.

My chilkdhood girlfriend lost both her parents when they were in their 50's to heart disease and I believed it was because the family put cream on everything and drank whole milk. When I went to her house and drank that whole milk, it tasted awful.

I make my own yogurt and am looking forward to making sheeps milk yogurt and goats milk cheese for taste and higher proteins.

The more I read about the health benefits and dangers of different foods, the more important a varied diet seems. I am glad my mother taught me good nutrition even though I don't seem to have the will power to eat properly all the time.

[Michael in Newbury Park]

I've drank a lot milk all my life, usually 1/3 to 1/2 gallon a day. I drink it with almost every meal. I'm thin. I've never broken a bone. I've never had a tooth filling. As far as I'm concerned, it sure beats what most people drink, which is soda pop, and fruit juices with almost no juice, in other words, junk drinks. Frankly, I think the anti-milk people are just trying to justify their poor eating habits.

[Alley Oop]

My problem with milk is that it tastes so good I usually drink more than I should.
I could drink a gallon of whole milk over the week-end if I let myself go.

[Barbara Alcott]

I have taken several nutrition courses and milk is a food just like vegetables and meats that has its own unique nutritional values. The calcium content is definitely the most important nutrient that this food has to offer. However, not everyone can partake of it, whether due to allergy or intolerance. People just have to decide for themselve what is right. The advertisements are foolish and using celebrities who probably are intolerant as they age are looking even more
foolish and false. So, don't make this valuable food suffer for the ignorance of the advertisement industry.

[Karen]

Shelly, I absolutely agree with you! And yet, the only thing I drank growing up and up until age 30 was whole milk, remaining very slender. I loved milk, cheese, butter, ice cream, yogurt. That was pre-1992 before Monsanto began massively dosing cows with hormones and antibiotics. The reason the cows are given hormones is for increased production of milk. They are given antibiotics to stop udder infection. If I use (rarely) milk nowadays, it is only organic because I have come to view regular milk as centrifuged with pus and blood. The fact that adult-onset diabetes (as well as morbid obesity) is now found among children as young as six seems to be directly correlated with and having occurred since the overuse of chemicals in milk products began. Another fact is that milk stored in translucent/transparent containers that sits under fluorescent lighting is completely depleted of all vitamins within 24 hours...This means that folks drinking it will get no nutrition and will only end up fat. Look around, I'm right and still not fat.

[Christina]

Hi ive been drinking 4: 8oz. glasses of milk a day. One with each meal and one as a night time snack. For a week and a half now. I have lost 6 pounds almost all off my stomach its great im down to 135lbs. MILK DOES DO A BODY GOOD.....

GOD BLESS YOU!!!