Currently it is believed by many that obesity is caused by a positive energy balance. The solution we are told is to restrict energy intake through dieting, or increase energy expenditure through exercise. However, the ‘eat-too-much, do-too-little’ mantra of weight gain is provably false, as evidenced in the nutritional literature. In fact, the cause of obesity is likely driven by insulin resistance and liver overload, caused by high intakes of fructose and refined carbohydrates. However, this message has not permeated to the general population, or indeed the medical establishment, the latter of which should know better. The result is that the ‘eat-too-much, do-too-little’ concept of weight gain has produced an obsession with calorie counting amongst the layman, and this has lead to the spread of low fat products on the shelves of supermarkets. Low fat milk, which has had the cream skimmed, is popular for this reason. However, logic suggests that skimmed milk is not beneficial compared to whole milk particularly for the overweight.
Studies show that calcium and dairy intakes are inversely associated with weight gain and body weight. In addition, clinical trials show that increasing intakes of dairy or calcium can cause body fat loss in overweight subjects. In fact one of the first studies to report weight loss from dairy products was studying the effects of yoghurt on osteoporosis, but found that subject fed the yoghurt also lost weight. It is unclear why dairy should cause reductions in body fat, but likely relates at least in part to the presence of conjugated linoleic acid (CLA) in the fat of milk. In clinical trials CLA has proved effective at causing body fat loss in animals and humans, although the exact mechanisms remain elusive. Consuming milk with the fat removed because of some perceived benefit to weight loss is therefore based on no logical premise other than the tired old ‘eat-too-much, do-too-little’ paradigm that has proved an abject failure in the fight against obesity. Products made from skimmed milk also often contain added sugar to replace the taste of fat.
Originally skimmed and semi-skimmed milk became popular when the cholesterol theory of cardiovascular disease started to gain traction in the 1980’s. Because whole milk has a high lipid energy content contributed mainly by cholesterol and saturated fat, proponents of the cholesterol theory of cardiovascular disease recommended avoiding milk fat through consumption of low-fat milk. Subsequently this theory has been shown to be erroneous, but the cholesterol dogma still remains in place in medical teaching, leaving whole milk unfairly ostracised. Paradoxically however, by avoiding milk fat, it may be that the risk of abdominal obesity, metabolic syndrome and cardiovascular disease increases, because of the absence of CLA in the diet. ‘Refining’ milk may therefore have been detrimental to the health of the public as a whole. Tinkering with the food supply by the food manufacturers has generally caused a health catastrophe particularly with regard to low-fat foods, and it may turn out that milk is no exception.
RdB
