Foods rich in protein, dairy products help dieters preserve muscle and lose belly fat: study

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[img_inline align=”right” src=”http://padnws01.mcmaster.ca/images/josse.jpg” caption=”Andrea Josse is lead author of a new study that suggests a higher-protein, lower-carbohydrate energy-restricted diet has a major positive impact on body composition, trimming belly fat and increasing lean muscle, particularly when the proteins come from dairy products. File photo.”]New research suggests a higher-protein, lower-carbohydrate energy-restricted diet has
a major positive impact on body composition, trimming belly fat and increasing lean
muscle, particularly when the proteins come from dairy products.

The study, published in the September issue of the href=”http://jn.nutrition.org/content/141/9/1626.full”>Journal of Nutrition,
compared three groups of overweight and obese, but otherwise healthy, premenopausal
women. Each consumed either low, medium or high amounts of dairy foods coupled
with higher or lower amounts of protein and carbohydrates.

The women exercised seven days per week for four months, a routine that included five
days of aerobic exercise and two days of circuit weightlifting.

According to the researchers, there were identical total weight losses among the
groups, but the higher-protein, high-dairy group experienced greater whole-body fat
and abdomen fat losses, greater lean mass gains and greater increases in strength.

All the tissue the women lost was fat, which has profound implications for longer-term
health, say the researchers.

“One hundred per cent of the weight lost in the higher-protein, high-dairy group was
fat. And the participants gained muscle mass, which is a major change in body
composition,” says Andrea Josse, lead author of the study and a graduate student in the
Department of Kinesiology at McMaster University. “The preservation or even gain of
muscle is very important for maintaining metabolic rate and preventing weight regain,
which can be major problem for many seeking to lose weight.”

Researchers found the lower-protein, low-dairy group lost about a pound and half of
muscle, whereas the lower-protein, medium dairy group lost almost no muscle. In
marked contrast, the higher-protein, high-dairy group actually gained a pound and half
of muscle, representing a three-pound difference between the low- and high-dairy
groups.

On top of the muscle mass differences, the higher-protein, high-dairy group lost twice
as much belly fat as the lower-protein, low-dairy group.

“Fat in the abdomen is thought to be especially bad for cardiovascular and metabolic
health, and it seems-according to what we found in this study-increasing calcium and
protein in the diet may help to further promote loss of fat from the worst storage area
in the body,” says Josse.

“A very important point is that these changes were not captured by simple measures of
body weight or body mass index, which are the most commonly used measures of
dietary 'success,'” adds Stuart Phillips, a professor in the Department of Kinesiology.
“These women also got fitter and stronger, which greatly reduces their risk of disease.”

The I.D.E.A.L. (Improving Diet Exercise and Lifestyle) for Women study was funded by
Dairy Farmers of Canada, the US Dairy Research Institute and Canadian Institutes of
Health Research. Agropur Incorporated provided the dairy products used in the study.