[:en]Dairy-Free Weight Loss Fad Diet [:]

[:en]Would you give up cheese and milk to lose weight? There have been recent celebrity claims for rapid weight loss due to eliminating cheese and milk out of their diet. As influential as celebrities are, many people turn to this endorsement as being true; however, there is no evidence to support the dairy-free strategy to work for a wide variety of people. If it worked for a celebrity, it doesn’t necessarily mean it will show the same results on someone else. Instead, there’s substantial scientific evidence that supports diets higher in dairy are associated with weight loss. Dairy products contain calcium which helps build and maintain strong bones and teeth. Calcium is especially crucial for weight loss to reduce the impact on bone density. In addition, there is evidence that suggests calcium-rich diets play a role in preventing fat cell growth and obesity.

Calcium is best sourced from dairy products such as milk and cheese and are almost three times more calcium-rich than other calcium-containing foods. In addition, milk also contains vitamin D that helps our bodies absorb and use calcium. Vitamin D is a fat-soluble vitamin and thus it is best to get vitamin D and calcium with the fat in milk. Dairy foods are generally not harmful, but rather beneficial for our bone health. Accordingly, it is not a good idea to eliminate these foods in our diets if unnecessary — unless it is required for your health. The celebrity dairy-free strategy is not necessarily true as the results may be due to other factors such as consistent exercise that helped lose weight. Trusting the media and following celebrity “success” stories is not the best strategy when it comes to determining what’s right for our own health. Be careful with nutrition claims — scientific evidence always triumphs personal stories.  [:]