Calcium Beneficially Affects Weight

A meta-analysis of seven clinical trials reveals that calcium may yield weight loss of around 1.5 kg per year, compared with placebo. In addition, a daily dose of 1,000 milligrams of calcium was associated with a small but significant reduction in body fat of about 2 kg per year.  Igho Onakpoya, from Peninsula Medical School at the University of Exeter (United Kingdom), and colleagues  posit that calcium aids the body to shed fat by modulating the levels of 1,25-vitamin D – the active form of the vitamin – which in-turn stimulates the breakdown of fat and inhibits the action of fat cells. Reporting that their review “revealed a small, significant reduction in body weight for calcium compared with placebo,” as well as a “small, significant reduction in body fat favoring calcium over placebo,” the researchers submit that: “the evidence from randomized clinical trials suggests calcium supplementation generates small, statistically significant weight loss in overweight and obese individuals.”