14) "AS YET UNPROVEN" SUPPLEMENTS
d) Calcium and Dairy Intake
There has been a flurry of articles linking increase calcium intake with decreased type 2 diabetes, decreased heart disease and improved weight control. There are several problems with the research these claims are based on. The first set of problems is that there are several obvious confounding factors:
1. The results of the tests may just reflect the obvious fact that women who eat dairy or take calcium supplements are just more health conscious than women who don't take supplements. The health conscious women would also tend to keep their weight under control.
2. Another problem is that the racial populations with the greatest risk of type 2 diabetes and heart disease (Native Americans, Hispanics, and those of African decent) are also the groups with the largest prevalence of lactose intolerance, i.e. milk products make them sick. Today the gene for lactose digestion is present in 80 percent of Europeans but in just 20 percent of these groups. So the groups that are avoiding dairy products are exactly the groups that gets the most diabetes and heart disease due to other genetic factors.
3. Complicating that even further is that Hispanics, Native Americans and those of African descent have higher rates of obesity (obesity causes type 2 diabetes and heart disease) due to cultural and social factors. So the ethnic groups least likely to ingest dairy foods (due to lactose intolerance) are just the groups most likely to get diabetes and heart disease due to cultural and social factors.
Also there appears to be no biochemist who has come up with any plausible "cause and effect" route where calcium somehow changes or affects the "calories in and calories out" dieting rule. No study we could find has shown that people in areas where the water is rich in calcium have less heart disease (or less diabetes) than people in areas with no calcium in the water. No animal studies appear to have confirmed any protective role for calcium in the diet. So it is very questionable whether or not calcium is of any benefit to persons with diabetes or anyone else.
The weight loss claim has actually sparked a lawsuit against the dairy industry for its continued claims of weight loss advantages of dairy food. These weight loss claims are regularly promoted in radio advertisements, something about three servings a day of dairy helping in weight loss. This claim is also made on a website owned by the International Dairy Foods Association (IDFA). This site states: "Studies suggest that a reduced calorie eating plan that includes 24 ounces of fat-free or low-fat milk a day may give your weight loss efforts a boost. Milk seems to help by cranking up your body's ability to burn fat -- particularly around the middle." There have also been ads in magazines along the same lines.
The dairy industry's weight-loss campaign is apparently based largely on studies conducted by Michael B. Zemel, a professor of nutrition and medicine at the University of Tennessee. The "Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine" (PCRM), a vegetarian activist group, claims that Zemel has allegedly accepted nearly $1.7 million in research grants since 1998 from the National Dairy Council. This is apparently the basis of the lawsuit by the PCRM. Zemel has apparently confirmed that he has received nearly $3 million in research funding from companies and industry groups marketing dairy products, including the National Dairy Council and General Mills. But he claims this is not biasing his research.
Indeed, based on one study of Pima Indians, calcium is actually detrimental to blood pressure. ("Dietary Calcium and Blood Pressure in a Native American Population", K.M. Venkat Narayan, MD, et al). In summary, we recommend fat free skim milk, fat free cottage cheese and fat free sugar free yogurt because they are good sources of protein, but we don't ascribe any more great benefits to them.
Current Chapter: 14) "AS YET UNPROVEN" SUPPLEMENTS
a) Introduction
b) The Good and the Bad
c) Vitamins and Antioxidants
d) Calcium and Dairy Intake
e) Potassium
f) Phytonutrients, Catechins and Flavonoids
g) Cinnamon
h) Herbal Supplements
i) Other "Panaceas"
j) Alcohol and Coffee
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