Despite recent trends to avoid dairy (such as the Paleo diet), there are several good reasons for people who are not lactose intolerant or sensitive to casein (the protein in milk) to keep enjoying dairy products. Dairy products have been shown in many studies to have major health benefits, including:

Strong bones. Osteoporosis, or the loss of bone mass, has become a major health problem in recent years. Studies show that calcium is crucial for building strong bones in childhood and adolescence and to maintain bone health in adulthood. Milk, yogurt and cheese are excellent sources of calcium, so make sure you consume two to three servings of dairy each day. A serving of dairy can be a glass of milk, a cup of yogurt or 1.5oz hard cheese (such as cheddar).

Heart health. For years, we’ve been told that saturated fats are unhealthy. But newer research actually shows that dairy fat can reduce the risk of heart attack. Dairy foods contain a number of potentially beneficial substances, such as calcium, vitamin D, and potassium, noted the researchers. They have also been shown to increase people’s levels of “good” HDL cholesterol.

Blood pressure. Another interesting study found that the regular consumption of low-fat dairy can lower blood pressure. It appears that this benefit is independent of the calcium found in dairy. Instead, the researchers say potassium and magnesium found in dairy products may be partly responsible for their study results.

Diabetes. Diabetes has become an epidemic in recent years. That’s why we were excited to learn that a natural substance found in dairy products appears to protect against diabetes. Trans-palmitoleic acid is present in milk, cheese, yogurt and butter but cannot be made by the body. The study found that higher levels of trans-palmitoleic acid were linked with a reduced risk of type 2 diabetes. People with the highest levels cut their risk by 60 percent!

Colon cancer. Other studies have shown that dairy products may help protect against colon cancer. Again, it seems that the benefit is not just because of the calcium found in dairy, so simply taking a calcium supplement won’t necessarily have the same benefits, and could actually be a problem.

Even if you’re lactose intolerant, and cannot consume milk, there’s a good chance you’ll be able to tolerate fermented dairy products such as Greek yogurt and aged cheese. As always, it’s best to enjoy the many benefits of dairy by consuming natural foods rather than trying to supplement, as artificial supplements often have undesirable side effects.

If you’ve been following the old USDA food pyramid, trying to lose weight with no success, the problem could be too many carbs, and not enough protein and healthy fats. A diet high in carbohydrates encourages fat storage, while a diet low in carbs, moderate in protein and high in good fats encourages fat burning and helps you avoid constant hunger and annoying dips in blood sugar, both typical to high-carb diets.

One of the best things about a low-carb, higher-protein-and-fat diet is that it’s really satiating. You won’t be as hungry as you are on a high-carb diet, and so you’ll likely eat less without feeling deprived. There’s no need to count calories or grams of anything – just base your diet on the healthy protein sources listed below, add lots of veggies and healthy fats, and you’ll watch the pounds melt away.
Of course, this is not without sacrifice – you do need to mostly cut out sugar, and limit complex carbs as well (ideally, to no more than 4 slices of bread per day, or a small bowl of pasta). But chances are, you’ll feel so good (especially after the first couple of weeks), it will be worth it.

Protein-rich foods include meat, fish, eggs, Greek yogurt, and to a lesser extent beans and nuts. A diet low in carbohydrates and high in these protein sources, in addition to lots of vegetables and healthy fats (such as olive oil), will make it easy to lose weight and maintain the loss.

Can you still eat out? Of course you can. Go to your favorite restaurant, but instead of ordering a huge plate of pasta, order a grilled salmon with veggies sautéed in olive oil. When you order steak, typically served with a side of baked potato and a veggie, ask the waiter to hold the potato and double the veggies.

When you eat a high-protein diet, you won’t need to snack as often, but when you do feel the need to snack between meals, grab a handful of dry-roasted nuts, a hard boiled egg or a cup of creamy Greek yogurt instead of pretzels or potato chips. Protein snacks, especially when coupled with fat, are very satiating.

Many people think that giving up sugar and limiting carbs will be difficult, but quite often they discover that once they do, they actually feel free – free from constant hunger, free from cravings, and free from having to constantly snack. That freedom, coupled with being able to lose weight without feeling hungry, makes the “sacrifice” of limiting carbs more than worth it.

Eating out used to be a special treat for most American families, but now, with busier-than-ever lives, we tend to eat out often. Since restaurants are notorious for their huge portions, and chefs liberally use butter, salt and sugar in their dishes to make them taste good, we need to be very careful when we eat out – anything other than a once-in-a-while splurge will cause weight gain. Here are a few tips for dining out while staying healthy:

1. Cut portions in half. Immediately upon receiving your meal, ask for a to-go bag and place exactly half in the bag. Restaurant portion sizes are so big these days, most entrees can be split into two and each half would still be fairly high in calories.

2. Skip the soda. In fact, if you completely cut soda out of your life, you would probably lose weight without making any other change to your diet and exercise habits. When dining out, the last thing you need is the added sugar and calories in soda. Diet sodas are not much better – they contain harmful ingredients and some research shows they too contribute to weight gain. Try to get used to drinking water. Sparkling water with a wedge of lime are very good.

3. Ask for the dressing on the side. Of course your salad will taste better with some dressing, but you don’t really need the 1/3 cup they’ll pour on it back in the kitchen. Ask for the dressing on the side, and use 2 tablespoons rather than the whole thing.

4. Consider replacing the starch with a veggie. Many meat dishes are served with a starch and a veggie. I often ask the server to hold the starch and double the veggies instead. The vast majority if restaurants are happy to oblige, though some charge a little extra.

5. Say no to supersizing. Whether at a fast food restaurant or at the movie theater (where they often try to entice you to get a larger popcorn), never agree to supersize. You absolutely do not need the extra calories.

6. Go easy on the alcohol. Alcohol is very calorie-dense, and it can also cause you to let your guard down and consume more than you had intended. One glass of red wine with your dinner is fine for most an might even offer some health benefits. More than that is asking for trouble.

7. Split dessert. At the end of your meal, you’re probably very full. You don’t really need dessert, especially not the typical 800-plus-calories restaurant dessert. So share a dessert with at least one more person, or – better yet – ask for a bowl of berries for dessert.

It seems like more and more of my friends are getting on the low-carb bandwagon. Hot trends such as the Paleo and Primal eating movements have refocused many of us on the benefits of cutting out junk food and limiting our processed carb intake. If you’re curious to see if lowering your carbohydrate intake could help you lose weight or better manage your blood sugar, here are a few things to consider:

1. Go gradually. If you’re used to the standard American diet, which often includes 300 daily grams of carbs or more, a drastic reduction could be very hard on your body. Some low-carb diets ask that you start with an extremely-low-carb period. This might work for some, but for many, it makes more sense to reduce carbs gradually.

2. Low carb is not just about steaks. Obviously, when you eat fewer carbs, you’ll need to eat more protein and fat. But protein is not just steaks – it can include poultry, seafood, cheeses and yogurt. When you add fats, try to add olive oil – the most heart-healthy fat we know of. Other healthy fats come from avocados, nuts, coconuts, and dairy.

3. Don’t forget fruit and vegetables. Old versions of some low-carb diets neglected the importance of vegetables and fruit, but newer versions of the same diets have rethought this stance. Mom was right: for optimal health, you do need to eat your vegetables (and fruit in moderation). The more we learn about the amazing chemicals that vegetables contain, the more science supports what Mom says.

4. Fat is not the enemy. We’ve been indoctrinated into viewing dietary fat as bad, but current thinking is that this was a mistake. Not all fat is bad. We need dietary fat, and some fats are in fact very good for us – see the list in section 2 above.

5. You need fiber. Low-carb diets need not lead to constipation. Even if you minimize grains, you can – and should – still gets plenty of fiber from vegetables and fruit. Eat plenty of varied vegetables – as many as you can in fact, and 2-3 servings of fruit per day. Vegetables are delicious when sautéed with garlic and olive oil, and a snack of full-fat plain Voskos Greek yogurt topped with berries will provide you with protein, good fat, fiber and antioxidants.

6. Don’t forget exercise. You don’t need a lot – but 30 minutes of moderate exercise, 4-5 times per week will help with weight loss, weight maintenance and just feeling better overall.

If you decide to go ahead and give low-carb dieting a try, be patient. It could take several weeks, even months, for your body to fully adjust, and you will probably need to tweak the amount of carbs you do get. Use fitday.com to track your daily carb intake, and to make sure you’re getting adequate vitamins and minerals.

It’s obvious to anyone that regularly wolfing down donuts and pizza will not exactly promote weight loss – or good health. But there are other, less obvious ways in which you could be sabotaging your weight loss efforts. Here are a few things to consider:

1. Not getting enough sleep. When you’re sleep deprived, you tend to reach out for food in an attempt to get some much needed energy. In addition, research shows that chronic sleep deprivation can negatively affect cell function.

2. Not getting enough fat in your diet. Sounds counter-intuitive, we know, but a healthy diet is a diet that contains a significant amount of fat – as long as it’s good fat. Olive oil, avocado and fatty wild fish such as salmon are all great sources of good, health fats. Recent research has shown that dairy fat may also be healthy and offer protection against diabetes.

3. Eating a high-carb, low-protein diet. This type of diet is a disaster in terms of weight loss and weight maintenance, because a high-carb, low-protein diet often results in blood sugar fluctuations and in a constant, unrelenting hunger. This is especially true if the carbs are highly refined, of course, but a protein-rich diet (aim for 20% percent of your daily calories) will keep you full, satiated, and will rev up your metabolism.

4. Skipping breakfast. Mom was right: breakfast is the most important meal of the day. Eating breakfast wakes up our body and your metabolism. Skipping breakfast will not just cause you to burn fewer calories during the morning hours, it will also cause you to overeat at lunch, or reach out for unhealthy snacks in between.

5. Eating too few calories. The last thing you want is for your body to decide that you’re starving and that it needs to slow down to a crawl and use every last calorie to its fullest, but this is exactly what happens if you eat too little. Generally, a moderately active woman needs 2000-2200 calories per day, and a man needs 2400-2600. You could go lower of course if you need to lose weight – a 500-calorie daily deficit is a good number to aim for, which still means a woman should get 1500 calories and a man 1900 calories. Frankly, all those “1000 calories per day” diets scare us.

For some people, January marks the beginning of a new undertaking to lose weight. Before choosing a specific program, consider the following study, which found a link between dietary calcium and weight loss.

A review study done by researchers at the University of Tennessee discovered a link between high calcium diets and weight loss. Scientists determined that calcium inside human cells has the power to regulate fat cell metabolism.1 Here is a brief summary of what the researchers concluded from the study:

1. Dietary calcium controls the levels of a hormone called calcitriol (the active form of vitamin D), which in turn modifies the amount of calcium taken in by fat cells.¹ Researchers determined that this mechanism has the power to control fat metabolism in human fat cells.¹

2. High calcium diets increase fat loss during periods of caloric restriction.¹

3. Calcium consumed from dairy products is significantly more effective than calcium supplements at reducing body weight and body fat during periods of caloric restriction.¹

4. Increasing dietary calcium through dairy products can reduce the effects of weight gain and fat accumulation during periods of over-eating.¹

5. Dairy demonstrated an ACE-inhibitory effect in hypertensive humans.1 In other words, dairy was found to have similar effects to that of high blood pressure medications.

6. Addition of dairy products to a caloric restriction diet is associated with the conservation of lean body mass.1 Dairy products have a high concentration of branched chain amino acids (BCAAs) which are needed to build muscle tissue.¹

7. It is important to note that these findings are not independent of “energy balance.”¹ In other words, one still needs to consider the ratio of calories ingested to calories burned on a daily basis.

Keep these points in mind when creating your nutrition plan this year. As I’ve stated in previous articles, a weight loss program should include both diet and exercise. A proper weight loss diet includes moderate calorie restriction, along with eating quality ingredients. Remember, not all calories are created equal. Maintain a diet that is high in fruits and vegetables (rich in anti-oxidants), lean protein (mainly fish, poultry, egg whites, and dairy), nuts and seeds (high in omega-3s), beans and legumes, and whole grains (mainly from buckwheat, brown rice, quinoa, steel-cut oats, barley, and wild rice). Avoid eating out whenever possible. If time is an issue, make all of your meals ahead of time on Sunday for the following week. Avoid drinking alcohol in excess, as it can quickly add unwanted calories to your daily intake. Try adding VOSKOS^® yogurt to complement your diet plan this year, and see if it makes a difference for you.

Source

1. Zemel MB. The role of dairy foods in weight management. Journal of the American College of Nutrition 2005; 24: 537S-546S.