Question

In 2003, authors Michael Zemel and Bill Gottlieb published the book The Calcium Key: The Revolutionary Diet Discovery That Will Help You Lose Weight Faster. In it, they describe a claim that became popular in the early 2000s that calcium improves metabolism and increases your body's ability to burn fat. But is it true?

In this discussion, you will investigate this claim and who may have a stake in it. Include the following in your response:

1. Find an article that links calcium to weight loss. Using the tools and strategies you learned in Module 2, evaluate the article. Be sure to also share a link to the article you found.
2. The Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics (formerly the ADA, or American Dietetic Association) is one organization that has published claims about calcium aiding in weight loss. Use a search engine to find which companies sponsor the Academy. Do you see any potential conflicts of interest? Explain who may benefit from the general public believing that they should increase their intake of calcium.

Answer 1

ANSWERS

1. Find an article that links calcium to weight loss. Evaluate the article. Be sure to also share a link to the article you found.

Calcium provides small increases in thermogenesis, the body's core temperature. This may boost metabolism, which can prompt our bodies to burn fat.

There are many good reasons to eat foods rich in calcium, not the least of which is the long-term health of the bones. Our body needs calcium every day, and if we are not providing it through y diet, body will use calcium stored in the bones, so it makes good nutritional sense to include it in the weight-loss plan, according to dietitian Donna L. Weihofen, RD, MS, a nutritionist at the University of Wisconsin Hospital and Clinics in Madison.

According to a recent U.S. Surgeon General report, many Americans fail to get the needed amount of calcium. Dieters who cut out dairy may be getting even less.

Calcium: It’s Role in Weight Loss: Though more research is needed, the beneficial effect of calcium on weight loss and maintenance looks promising. One study compared a restricted-calorie diet not including recommended dairy servings to a restricted-calorie diet including the recommended amount of dairy, and found that the dairy diet will be more successful even if the same number of calories per day is eaten.

One possible reason why people who eat calcium-rich foods appear to manage their weight more effectively is that they are choosing more filling, healthy foods over foods that are high in calories and low in nutrition.

How Calcium Jumpstarts Weight Loss

There are three science-backed findings on calcium’s role in weight loss:

• 1. It helps you burn more fat
• 2. It helps your body get rid of fat (through stools)
• 3. It makes you feel fuller for longer

Calcium Helps Burn Fat

Research shows calcium enhances fat burning . In a one-week study published in the Obesity Research Journal, 10 men and nine women consumed either a low-calcium diet (approximately 500 milligrams of calcium per day) or a high-calcium diet (approximately 1,400 milligrams of calcium per day). At the end of the week, their indicators of calorie burning were measured in a special “calorimeter” room. On that day, their calorie intake was lower than needed to maintain their weight.

This calorie deficit (-600 calories) was only induced for the 24 hours subjects were kept in the calorimeter room. The calorie deficit was achieved with a combination of caloric restriction and exercise.

The results showed a combination of calcium intake, fewer calories, and exercise increased 24-hour fat burning by more than 30%.

Further research published in the International Journal of Obesity found 1,200 milligrams of supplemental calcium per day decreased prodiction of Fatty acid synthase. And it caused a drop in the production of new fat too.

Calcium Increases Fat Excretion

Humans typically excrete about 2 g of fat in stools each day. But recent studies show calcium can increase that number significantly.

A review and meta analysis of randomized control trials was published in 2009. The results of these studies show increasing calcium intake from 400-500 mg per day (the average amount in a Western diet), to 1241 mg per day increases the amount of fecal fat. On average, the participants in the studies lost 5.2g of fat in their stools!

Calcium Promotes Lasting Satiation

Feeling full after a large meal involves more than the physical capacity of your stomach. The vitamins and minerals within that meal all play a role in how long it takes for you to feel hungry again. And calcium plays a starring role…

Researchers tested the effects calcium has on appetite in 13 men and seven women in a double-blind study. There were four preload meal variations for participants to try. ; a low-calcium/low-protein control, a high-calcium preload, a high-protein preload, and a high-calcium/high-protein preload.

Each trial was separated by two or more days, but not by more than seven days. Blood samples were collected as a baseline and in 15-minute intervals for an hour after eating. After an hour, participants were given a standardized test meal.

Researchers found preloading with protein led to almost perfect energy compensation. They also found calcium, with or without protein, suppressed appetite.

After the high-protein/high-calcium trial, total energy intake (calories consumed) was 3,419 calories. This was the lowest amount of calories consumed in any of the meal variations.

To maximize calcium’s fat-burning effect, take supplemental calcium and vitamin D with breakfast.

Research shows high calcium and Vit D intake at breakfast increases the rate fat is burned over the course of the next two meals. It also reduces “spontaneous energy intake” (how much food you eat) in the subsequent 24 hour period.

The subjects in this study included 11 people whose average age was 54, with an average BMI of 31. A BMI of 31 puts most people in the overweight/obese range.

The experiment was to compare the effects on these subjects of a low-calcium meal and a high-calcium meal. Both of which provided an equal amount of calories. Fat burning rates and feelings of hunger or fullness were measured before both types of meals and then every hour for the following eight hours.

After the meals, a buffet was provided. Subjects were told to eat when hungry and to eat as much as they wanted. Their spontaneous food consumption was recorded over the following 30 hours.

After the high-calcium and vitamin D meal, fat burning went up and trips to the buffet went down compared to the low-calcium meal. In the 24-hour period after the high calcium and vitamin D meal, subjects consumed far fewer calories, and fat kept burning at a higher rate. This further reinforces calcium’s connection to fat burning and feelings of satiation. Particularly when calcium is taken with breakfast.

Research article

Effects of calcium supplementation on body weight: a meta-analysis

A study abstract in the The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, Volume 104, Issue 5, November 2016, Pages 1263–1273, revealed the following findings.

Abstract

Background: Whether calcium supplementation can reduce body weight and prevent obesity remains unclear because of inconsistent reports.

Objective: A meta-analysis was performed to investigate the correlations between calcium supplementation and changes in body weight on the basis of age, sex, body mass index (BMI) of the subjects, and length of calcium intervention.

Design: Both randomized controlled trials and longitudinal studies of calcium supplementation were included, and random- or fixed-effects models in a software program were used for the data analysis.

Results: Thirty-three studies involving a total of 4733 participants were included in this meta-analysis. No significant differences in weight changes were shown between calcium intervention and control groups (mean: −0.01 kg; 95% CI −0.02, 0.00 kg; P = 0.12). However, negative correlations between calcium supplementation and weight changes were shown in children and adolescents (mean: −0.26 kg; 95% CI: −0.41, −0.11 kg; P < 0.001) and in adult men and either premenopausal or old (>60 y of age) women (mean: −0.91 kg; 95% CI: −1.38, −0.44 kg; P < 0.001) but not in postmenopausal women (mean: −0.14 kg; 95% CI: −0.54, 0.26 kg; P = 0.50). When BMI was considered, a negative correlation between calcium supplementation and weight changes was observed in subjects with normal BMI (mean: −0.53 kg; 95% CI: −0.89, −0.16 kg; P = 0.005) but not in overweight or obese subjects (mean: −0.35 kg; 95% CI: −0.81, 0.11 kg; P = 0.14). Compared with the control groups, no differences in weight changes were shown in the calcium-intervention groups when the lengths of calcium interventions were <6 mo (mean: −0.09 kg; 95% CI: −0.45, 0.26 kg; P = 0.60) or ≥6 mo (mean: −0.01 kg; 95% CI: −0.02, 0.01 kg; P = 0.46).

Conclusion: Increasing calcium intake through calcium supplements can reduce body weight in subjects who have a normal BMI or in children and adolescents, adult men, or premenopausal women.

Link: http://doi.org/10.3945/ajcn.116.136242

Evaluation of the article:

· This article clearly delineates the data on effect of calcium supplementation on weight loss.

• · Compared all age groups.
• · Randomized control trials were also included.
• · Study evaluated people with normal BMI

2. Companies which sponsor the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics.

The Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics is the world's largest organization of food and nutrition professionals founded in Cleveland, Ohio, in 1917, by a visionary group of women dedicated to helping the government conserve food and improve the public's health and nutrition during World War I.

A 1995 report, noted the Academy received funding from companies like McDonald's, PepsiCo, The Coca-Cola Company, Sara Lee, Abbott Nutrition, General Mills, Kellogg's, Mars, McNeil Nutritionals, SOYJOY, Truvia, Unilever, and The Sugar Association as corporate sponsorship.

Over the past five years, AND's most loyal Academy Partners (for all five years) have been Aramark, Coca-Cola, and the National Dairy Council. During that period, the following companies were listed as either “Partners” or “Premier Sponsors:” PepsiCo, Kellogg, Mars, General Mills, and Abbott Nutrition.

Sponsors work with the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics to forward the mission of accelerating improvements in global health and well-being through food and nutrition.

Premier Sponsor

· Abott

· 2019 - Supporters

• · American Heart Association & Aramark
• · Big G Cereal
• · Campbell Soup Company
• · Danone North America
• · DayTwo
• · GSK Consumer Healthcare
• · LaCroix® Sparkling Water
• · MatrixCare
• · Mead Johnson Nutrition
• · National Honey Board
• · Orgain
• · PepsiCo
• · Premier Protein
• · Simple Mills
• · SPLENDA® Sweeteners
• · Sunsweet Growers

Do you see any potential conflicts of interest?

Sponsorship Impact AND Lobbying and Policy Positions

To its credit, AND has a political action committee, ANDPAC. AND’s policy positions remain mostly self-serving, relatively safe and noncontroversial.

While there is no way to know for sure if the corporate sponsorships are playing a role, it’s disturbingly clear the group is not showing leadership on the most pressing nutrition policy issues of our day

A look at the most recently reported activity for 2012 reveals that ANDPAC spent $106,375 on campaign contributions to political candidates, with 86 percent going to Democrats and 13 percent to Republicans.45 In 2012, ANDPAC spent $86,250 lobbying on the following federal legislation:

Affordable Care Act – Prevention and Nutrition Reimbursement

• • Federal Agriculture Reform and Risk Management Act (Farm Bill)
• • Medical Foods Equity Act - Nutrition Coverage and Reimbursement
• • National Diabetes Prevention Program
• • Preserving Access to Life-Saving Medications Act
• • Preventing Diabetes in Medicare Act
• • Older Americans Act Amendments

These are all certainly legitimate policies for a nutrition trade group to lobby on. Most of them are about getting the profession insurance reimbursement of their services and expanding opportunities for nutrition services.

One encouraging sign is ANDPAC’s lobbying on the farm bill in favor of assistance programs such as food stamps.

Additional research shows that AND also has filed regulatory comments to several federal agencies including the U.S. Department of Agriculture, on improving nutrition standards on school meals (AND also lobbied for passage of the Child Nutrition Reauthorization Act, the underlying bill).

It was also very encouraging to see that AND filed supportive comments to the Federal Trade Commission on the very contentious issue of junk food marketing to children.

Inquiries to various nutrition advocates revealed that AND has been taking much more positive steps in recent years on these issues. But much more remains to be done.

The Academy remains either silent or counter-productive on too many pressing issues.

. The following table shows AND’s own stated policy agenda over the next several years. Again, most of these issues are either internal to the profession or fairly safe territory politically—nothing that might ruffle the feathers of the likes of CocaCola or Hershey’s.

Consumer and Community Issues

• 1. Prevention and treatment of chronic disease, including health care equity
• 2. Meeting nutrition needs through the life cycle: Maternal and child nutrition to healthy aging
• 3. Quality food and nutrition through education, production, access and delivery
• 4. Nutrition monitoring and research

There is one encouraging sentence in the document: “The Academy has identified sustainable food systems as a priority in their commitment to helping individuals enjoy healthy lives.” But it’s unclear how AND intends to promote this goal.

Explain who may benefit from the general public believing that they should increase their intake of calcium.

• The public only gets the benefit if they are adapting themselves to the recent bebeficial innovation in the field of health.
• Many research data also support the fact that increase in Calcium intake can increase the metabolism rate and hence reduce the weight.
• Hence incorporating these findings in daily living and modifying the life style can bring about tremendous changes in the health of the public.

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