I was just reading an article that compared dieters who ate low fat dairy three or four times a day reduced body fat by up to 70%. It goes on to say that "calcium acts as a switch that tells your body to burn excess fat faster." This sounds like great news but how true is this? Is this amount of dairy every day (skim milk, yogart, etc) ok on the Zone diet?

Dairy. Most people have some kind of problems with dairy products. Usually this is due to lactose intolerance (especially common amongst asians) or problems digesting the milk protein. And some people are just plain allergic to cow's milk. Low fat dairy is obviously a better option because the fat in dairy products could be considered bad fats. If you are one of the smaller percentage of the population who has no problem with dairy then it would be a wonderful, nutrient rich source of protein. As far as calcium turning a switch that helps you burn fat faster - I vaguely remember the study but it would be handy if you had a link to it (or the scientific footnote) so I could give you a more informed opinion. It sounds like a flawed hypothesis. Hope this helps. Kindest regards, Andrew Cavanagh

Hi Andrew and mambaa2, [quote:e3151f601e]As far as calcium turning a switch that helps you burn fat faster - I vaguely remember the study but it would be handy if you had a link to it (or the scientific footnote) so I could give you a more informed opinion. It sounds like a flawed hypothesis. [/quote:e3151f601e] Here's a study regarding calcium and fat loss: http://www.ajcn.org/cgi/content/abs...t/77/2/281 In addition to calcium, milk also contains CLA, which is attributed to reducing fat and preserving muscle tissue. http://www.mercola.com/beef/cla.htm I hope that helps. Personally I agree with you Andrew that milk contains undesirable fat. However, from what I've read, grass-fed raw whole milk (when available) has a more desirable fat - similiar to wild game. Hopefully that helps, Idelle

Idelle, It's an excellent point you make about the quality of the feed of the cows that supply the milk. Put simply if an animal is more healthy - has a healthier balance of arachadonic acid to eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) then its milk and its flesh will also have a healthier balance of AA to EPA and would obviously be healthier to consume. To really have a healthy society we not only have to look at what we eat we also need to consider our methods of food production. Kindest regards, Andrew