The Federal Trade Commission is yanking a national advertising campaign because of a false claim. The campaign is for milk, and the claim is that drinking it can help you lose weight. The Commission (FTC) says there is no proof to back that up.
The ads, created dually by the dairy industry and the U.S. Agriculture Department, imply that getting three servings of dairy each day can help trim fat. Its slogans include phrases such as, “Milk your diet. Lose weight!” Its actors include New York Yankees superstar Alex Rodriguez and “American Idol” winner Carrie Underwood.
In 2005, a group called the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine contacted the FTC to argue that the commercials and print ads were misleading. This group has been arguing the link between dairy and weight loss for years. (It also happens to support a vegetarian lifestyle.)
In May, those behind the ads agreed to change the marketing material until research notes a stronger link between eating dairy products and losing weight. The activist group’s head told the New York Times that “the dairy industry, which used to have a mom-and-pop image, is a huge commercial entity that will exaggerate to sell its products.”
Now, there is no question that having dairy in your diet will contribute to stronger bones and help maintain a reasonably healthy weight. The issue is that a $50 billion dairy industry can sometimes whitewash the facts of nutrition for its own benefit. Yes, milk has much nutritional value, but at the same time you can lead a healthy diet without diary.
And to suggest that milk helps lose weight is indeed off the mark. The truth goes something like this: getting low-fat or fat-free dairy, up to three cups a day, will not necessarily add to weight gain. “Losing weight” and “not gaining weight” are two different things entirely.
Many studies have addressed the question of whether calcium could enhance weight loss. Up until now, we have very inconsistent results that are actually more negative than they are positive.
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Tags: functional foods, high protein diet
