Surprise finding: whole fat milk burns body fat more than skim!

[Guest guest]

It's the CLA..... and, it's not just about losing weight either....

This was a large study too (19,000 nurses)

Full-fat dairy products linked to lower weight

By Amy Norton Sun Jan 7, 5:43 AM ET

NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - Though health-conscious eaters often shun whole

milk, a

new study suggests that adults who favor full-fat dairy gain less weight over

time.

Swedish researchers found that among more than 19,000 middle-aged women, those

who

had at least one serving of whole milk or cheese each day put on less weight

over the next

9 years than women who consumed these foods less often.

The potential role of dairy foods in weight control won much attention after

some recent

studies suggested that milk, yogurt and other dairy foods might help regulate

body fat.

However, the picture is far from clear, as other research has failed to find

that dairy

products benefit the waistline.

The new findings, published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, are

unlikely to

clear up the confusion.

For one thing, only whole milk, and not low-fat milk, seemed to offer protection

against

weight gain. For another, the benefit was seen only among women who were normal-

weight at the start of the study.

It's always possible that the associations between dairy intake and weight gain

do not

reflect a direct action of dairy foods at all, according to Dr. Magdalena

Rosell, a researcher

at the Karolinska Institute in Stockholm and the study's lead author.

Eating habits can be seen as a marker of overall lifestyle, and women who

favored whole

milk might have had other habits that aided their weight control, Rosell told

Reuters

Health.

It's also possible that women who had already been gaining weight opted to drink

low-fat

milk -- making the milk a " marker, " but not a cause, of weight gain, according

to Rosell.

The findings are based on data from 19,352 women ages 40 to 55 who were surveyed

about their diets, weight and other health factors at the study's outset and

again 9 years

later.

Women who said they had whole milk or cheese at least once a day throughout the

study

period were less likely to report a significant weight gain -- defined as 2

pounds or more

per year.

One theory on why dairy products have been linked to lower body weight is that

the

calcium aids in fat regulation, but a number of studies have refuted that

notion. The new

findings cast further doubt, since low-fat milk showed no positive weight

effects.

It's possible, according to Rosell, that a type of fat found in dairy foods

called conjugated

linoleic acid, or CLA, aids in weight control.

However, she added, there's not enough evidence yet to support that idea. At

this point,

there's no reason, Rosell said, for people to eschew the general advice to

choose low-fat

dairy products, which are lower in artery-clogging saturated fats.

" From what we know today, I do not see any reasons to change that

recommendation, " she

said.

SOURCE: American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, December 2006.