The Milk Diet — Is it Your Solution to Losing Weight?

For sometime now, you’ve been hearing about the Milk Diet and
it’s benefit in helping you lose weight. I recently searched on
Google for the Milk Diet and could only find vague references to
milk as a supplement to help you lose weight.

To date, there is no actual Milk Diet. Instead, supporters of
milk as a supplement to losing weight suggest adding milk to any
diet. They claim the amount of weight loss will increase simply
by adding more whole milk to your diet.

So, does milk help to increase the amount of weight loss? If
so, how does it work? First, here are some surprising facts
about milk…

1. It’s normal to be lactose intolerant.
   That’s right, about 85% of the world’s population is lactose
   intolerant. As an adult, the enzyme that breaks down lactose,
   the main sugar in milk, no longer functions.

   Milk fat, the main benefit of drinking milk, is only necessary
   for newborns. Once you’re old enough to eat solid food, there’s
   no need for milk fat and the lactose enzyme becomes
   non-functional.

   This is why a majority of the world’s population is lactose
   intolerant. You don’t need to drink milk as an adult. But why
   are some people lactose tolerant? Cultures that live at the most
   Northern regions of each hemisphere don’t receive enough
   sunlight to convert chemicals near the skin surface to vitamin
   D. To provide themselves with vitamin D, they have retained the
   function of the lactose enzyme. This accounts for only about 15%
   of the world’s population.

2. There are many other sources of vitamin D and Calcium. As a
   matter of fact, milk ranks some where in the middle as a good
   source of calcium. Here is a quick list of good sources of
   calcium…

   -Bean sprouts

   -Spinach, cooked

   -Collard greens, cooked

   -Mustard greens, cooked

   -Almonds

   -Chestnuts

   -Walnuts

   -Raw oysters

   -Shrimp

   -Salmon with bones

   -Garbanzo beans, cooked

   -Soybeans, cooked

   -Tofu, firm

The Milk Diet

The evidence that milk can help you lose weight is inconsistent
at best. A few poorly designed studies show a benefit and a few
poorly designed studies show no benefit and may even reverse
your weight loss efforts.

These studies are poorly designed because they are not
rigorously controlled and compared to a group not taking milk.
There are a few studies about to finish and report their
findings within the next couple of months.

I have decided to wait and not make any conclusions until the
proper studies release their results. Until then, follow a more
traditional method of losing weight. Restrict calories gradually
and moderately. Reducing your caloric intake about 250-550
calories from your baseline per day and exercising will result
in about 2-3 pounds of weight loss per week.

For more on the Milk Diet, visit…

www.weight-loss-professional.com/milk-diet.html

To Healthy Living!

Michael A. Smith, MD

Chief Medical Consultant

Diet Basics Website

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