Weight Loss Diet Tips - Make Sure You’re Getting Enough Calcium

A lot of restrictive weight loss diets are very low in calcium, which has a very dramatic (and negative) impact on your health - especially for women. The problem with calcium is that many women think drinking milk and eating dairy products, which are high in calcium, will make them fat. But the most recent evidence supports the view that calcium is actually a fat-buster, not a weight loss diet buster. In fact, it’s thought that calcium can help prevent and treat excess weight gain and obesity.

However, making sure you eat plenty of dairy products on a weight loss diet is probably not the best thing for your health - I’m a strong advocate of dairy free diets, and noticed massive improvements in my own health since I cut out dairy several years ago. There are many other very healthy and very high sources of calcium without having to eat more dairy.

Soy based products for example (like soy milk etc) are high in calcium, as are green vegetables - and if all else fails there’s a lot of very good calcium supplements on the market - just make sure they contain vitamin D as well, as that helps your body absorb the calcium.

Although the specific scientific mechanisms are not as yet fully understood, people on a weight loss diet with a low calcium intake are thought to have an increased ability to store excess calories as body fat.

High levels of dietary calcium in a weight loss diet, on the other hand, can increase your body’s ability to burn fat. The calcium mechanism is thought to relate partly to the effect calcium has on insulin. High insulin levels tend to cause excess dumping of fatty acids in the fat cells. If the diet is low in calcium, insulin levels rise. This sends a signal to the fat cells to increase their production of fat.

So it seems that maintaining a high level of dietary calcium is important for long-term weight management. Calcium is also important in reducing the risk of osteoporosis, and it plays a role in the constriction and relaxation of your blood vessels, contributing to healthy blood pressure. Newer studies even suggest that a higher intake of calcium may reduce your risk of colorectal cancer.

How To Increase Your Calcium Intake On a Weight Loss Diet

If you don’t like milk (or like me you are dairy free), tinned fish are another rich source of calcium, especially if you eat the bones. Try pilchards, sardines and salmon. Excessive amounts of spinach, tea and coffee can negatively affect your body’s ability to absorb calcium. The amount of calcium in one 300ml glass of milk can be obtained from one 200g pot of soy yoghurt. A 300ml glass of fortified orange juice supplies about 35 per cent of your daily calcium requirement and 25% of your vitamin D needs.

How To Lose Weight Naturally