Eating high-fat dairy may lower your risk of being overweight

Many people buy low-fat dairy, like 2% milk, in the hopes that ingesting less fat means that they will be less fattier.

Contrary to this popular belief, a new study found that consumption of high-fat dairy lowers the risk of weight gain by 8% in middle-aged and elderly women.

Rautiainen et al. (2016) studied 18 438 women over 45 years old who did not have cancer, diabetes or cardiovascular diseases. They collected data on the women’s weight, eating habits, smoking, alcohol use, physical activity, medical history, hormone use, and vitamin intake for  8 to 17 years. “Total dairy product intake was calculated by summing intake of low-fat dairy products (skim and low-fat milk, sherbet, yogurt, and cottage and ricotta cheeses) and high-fat dairy products (whole milk, cream, sour cream, ice cream, cream cheese, other cheese, and butter)” (p. 980).

At the beginning of the study, all women included in the analyses were normal weight.

Over the course of the study, all women gained some weight, probably as a result of normal aging.

Women who ate more dairy gained less weight than women who didn’t. This finding is due to the high-fat dairy intake; in other words, women who ate high-fat dairy gained less weight compared to the women who consumed low-fat dairy. Skimmed milk seemed to be the worst for weight gain compared to low-fat yogurt.

I did not notice any speculation as to why this may be the case, so I’ll offer one: maybe the people who eat high-fat dairy get more calories from the same amount of food so maybe they eat less overall.

Reference: Rautiainen S, Wang L, Lee IM, Manson JE, Buring JE, & Sesso HD (Apr 2016, Epub 24 Feb 2016). Dairy consumption in association with weight change and risk of becoming overweight or obese in middle-aged and older women: a prospective cohort study. The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, 103(4): 979-988. doi: 10.3945/ajcn.115.118406. Article | FREE FULLTEXT PDF | SuppData

By Neuronicus, 7 April 2016

Stress can get you fat. And then kill you.

Some people lose weight under stressful conditions and some gain weight. How does that play into the risk for the cardiovascular disease and subsequent mortality? Medical doctors keep warning us that fat people are at risk for diabetes and heart disease. Turns out that being a little on the heavy side might actually not be that bad. It all depends on what kind of fat and where it is.

The paper featured today reviews a series of interesting articles with surprising results. Peters & McEwen (2015) identify three distinct phenotypes:

1) The good stress leads to well-proportionate body shape. People who live in safe environments, they do well socioeconomically, they have good self-esteem, and they have a fulfilling social and family life. They experience low levels of stress, they are well proportionate, and have a low mortality rate due to cardiovascular disease. Might as well call these ones the lucky ones.

2) The tolerable stress leads to corpulent-but-narrow-waisted body shape. People who experience stress but in order to cope with it they supply the brain with more energy by eating more. So they become more corpulent, gaining subcutaneous fat, but their cardiovascular mortality risk remains low.

3) The toxic stress leads to lean-but-wide-waisted body shape. People who experience prolonged stress exposure to uncertain socioeconomic conditions, poor work, or family life. They have low self-esteem, often associated with depressive periods. They are or become lean, but they accumulate large visceral fat deposits (as opposed to subcutaneous), and their cardiovascular mortality risk is the highest. They also are at risk for other physical and mental disorders. The phenotype 3 people have a wider waist relative to their body mass index and height.

Source: Peters & McEwen (2015, p.144)

Thus, the authors propose that instead or along with the body mass index, another metric should be used to identify the ones in dire need of help: the body shape index. Also, the review outlines the mechanisms responsible for these findings.

So next time you see a not so well-proportionate person, smile. Maybe even offer to help or chat; you don’t know what they’re going through.

Reference: Peters, A. & McEwen, B. S. (September 2015, Epub 3 July 2015). Stress habituation, body shape and cardiovascular mortality. Neuroscience Biobehavioral Reviews, 56:139-50. doi: 10.1016/j.neubiorev.2015.07.001. Article | FREE PDF

By Neuronicus, 5 October 2015