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The Effects of Dietary Calcium Intake on Body Weight

Jul 31, 2011 | By Linda Tarr Kent
The Effects of Dietary Calcium Intake on Body Weight
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A good dietary calcium intake may do more than help you gain strong bones -- it may also help you maintain a healthy body weight. In fact, raising your calcium intake may translate to a lower risk for obesity. Dietary calcium appears more beneficial for this purpose than supplemental calcium, according to "Understanding Nutrition," by Eleanor Noss Whitney and Sharon Rady Rolfes. Dietary calcium is found naturally in milk and other dairy products, and greens like spinach and kale.

Significance

People who consume higher amounts of dietary calcium tend to have lower body mass index and are less likely to be overweight, according to a 2007 study published in the "American Journal of Clinical Nutrition." This study examined 1,771 early postmenopausal women who did not take calcium supplements. Other studies echo this finding. If you are overweight, increasing dietary calcium for one year may lead to body fat loss of close to 11 lbs. on average, found a 2000 "Journal of the Federation of American Societies for Experimental Biology" study.

Recommendations

The recommended daily amount, or RDA, of calcium for most adults may be the correct amount for gaining weight-management benefits. A 2000 scientific review published in "The Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism" notes that ingesting 1,000 mg dietary calcium daily may be the key to avoiding an average 17.6 lbs in excess body weight. The review, which examined 12 years of data on related to calcium intakes, also found that you are 2.25 times more likely to be overweight if you are a young woman who has a low dietary calcium intake, according to lead author K. Michael Davies.

Effects

Consuming more dietary calcium appears to inhibit fat formation and stimulate use of stored fat by your body, according to Michael B. Zemel, lead author for the 2000 "Journal of the Federation of American Societies for Experimental Biology" study. Dietary calcium appears to stimulate hormonal action that leads to the breakdown of your stored fat, according to Whitney and Rolfes. At the same time, calcium appears to reduce adipocyte fatty acid synthase expression and activity, which promotes body fat accumulation, according to Zemel. In essence, a low-calcium diet appears to flip a switch in your fat cells that puts them in fat storage mode, according to Davies.

Considerations

More study is needed to determine the exact role calcium plays in your body when it comes to fat storage and fat breakdown, partly because much of the evidence that it does have a role has been culled from studies examining calcium's role in other health conditions, such as osteoporosis, according to Davies. Also, people who consume high-calcium diets tend to generally follow healthier diets, and other nutrients, such as those found in milk, may be responsible for the association between dietary calcium and lower body weight, Davies notes.

Observations

Davies' review of calcium studies produces other interesting observations. For example, low calcium diets appear to cause a lower core body temperature along with increased fat accumulation, whereas high calcium diets appear to do the opposite. The review also points out that our ancestors had a diet that is more calcium-rich than the modern-day diet, taking in two to four times the amount that modern man consumes. Low calcium intakes would only have been present during times of food shortage. Thus, you may trigger a primitive energy-conserving response that alters your metabolism and encourages weight gain when you don't get enough calcium.

References

Article reviewed by Tad Cronn Last updated on: Jul 31, 2011

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