Women do not typically use strength training as their main style of exercise, but a recent study found that women who did strength training and drank milk daily gained more muscle and lost more fat than women who did strength training but didn’t drink milk. The study’s findings made a good case for women to start pumping iron and drinking milk.
Study on Strength Training and Drinking Milk to Lose Fat
The study, published in the June, 2010 issue of Medicine and Science in Sports and Exercise, followed young women over a period of 12 weeks who, at the beginning of the study, had not used strength training as part of their exercise routine. The women did a routine of resistance-training exercises daily which was followed by one group drinking 500 milliliters of fat-free white milk while the other group drank a similar-looking, sugar-based energy drink. At the end of the study, the women who drank milk gained much more muscle and lost more fat than the women who drank the energy drink.
Professor Stu Phillips from the Department of Kinesiology at McMaster University and lead author of the study states he was surprised by the total fat loss of the women in the study. While muscle gain was to be expected, the total loss of fat far extended their expectations. While the researchers are unsure as to which components in milk were responsible, they believe it is the combination of calcium, vitamin D and protein that did the trick.
Phillips also believes more women should consider strength training as a form of exercise. Strength training builds muscle, raises the metabolism and strengthens bones, all factors that women begin to lose after the age of 30. As the study showed, small changes such as adding strength training and drinking milk can drastically improve a woman’s health and body weight.
More Facts on Calcium and Weight Loss
Women have been told for years that adding calcium to the diet can help aid in weight loss, but that statement isn’t necessarily true on its own. A 2009 study found that boosting calcium in the diet helps to increase weight loss in women who have diets deficient in calcium.
The study, published in the March, 2009 issue of the British Journal of Nutrition, consisted of obese women who did not consume the recommended daily intake of 1,000 milligrams of calcium in their diet. The researchers placed the women on a low-calorie diet as well as gave half the participants a total of 1,200 milligrams of calcium supplements while the other half took a placebo. At the end of the 15-week study, the women who took the calcium supplements lost 13.3 pounds as compared to the placebo group who lost only 2.3 pounds.
The study’s authors believe that when the body is lacking in calcium, the brain detects this deficiency and increases hunger to make up for it. Consuming enough calcium seems to help people to not have the desire to overeat.
Adding Calcium to the Diet
The Office of Dietary Supplements recommends that men and women age 19 and older consume 1,000 milligrams a day of calcium through their diet and, if necessary, through supplementation. It is also essential that a person gets the recommended 400 to 600 IUs (International Units) of vitamin D to help absorb the calcium. It is important, however, to remember that more is not better when it comes to taking calcium supplements. Taking high doses of calcium can damage the kidneys or cause other health issues.
Adding strength training and drinking milk is a healthy way to lose weight and build up the body. Women of all ages can benefit from strength training exercise and consuming the proper amount of calcium in their diet.
Sources:
ScienceDaily.com “Milk: Two Glasses a Day Tones Muscles, Keeps the Fat Away in Women, Study Shows” Retrieved July 2, 2010.
Medical News Today “Calcium for Weight Loss” Retrieved July 2, 2010.
Office of Dietary Supplements “Calcium” Retrieved July 2, 2010.
Deanna Lynn Sletten - Deanna Lynn Sletten has been a freelance writer for newspapers, regional magazines and websites for 20 years. She specializes in the ...
