Most women in today’s society live their lives in fear of one thing.  One thing haunts them so mercilessly that they strain their bodies in training against it.  So afraid, women spend huge portions of money to prevent it.  Women strictly monitor what they consume in order to keep this fear at bay.   It can cause a woman’s mood to alter, her clothes to change and her confidence to decrease.

This dreadful thing is weight gain.

Most likely, at some point in your time here, you have asked or been asked, “Do I look fat in this?” There are more diets than Polo shirts at Villanova.

But what if you could lose weight by eating?

Although it seems paradoxical, new studies have shown that it is, in fact, the truth. Researchers have shown that the consumption of dairy products can actually burn fat. More specifically, belly fat. That’s right. Hello dairy, bye-bye beer gut.

A recent experiment in the journal, Obesity Research, took three groups of people and put them on different low-calorie diet. The diet with the highest amount of calcium from dairy products lost the most weight.  

Scientists believe that this is due to the amount of calcitriol, a form of Vitamin D.  If your body does not get enough calcium, it releases this vitamin which helps preserve calcium in the body, but it also signals fat cells to slow burning and make more fat.

The consumption of dairy also decreases the release of the hormone cortisol, which is linked to greater amounts of belly fat.

“I have actually tried it,” said junior Emily Lagrotteria.  “I was on Atkins for a long time so I didn’t eat a lot of dairy, but since I have been off I have been drinking a lot more milk.  I have definitely noticed my belly getting skinnier.”  Although a dairy diet alone probably won’t be enough to kick the flab, dairy products combined with a lower calorie diet and exercise will.  So next time you are trying to slim down for bathing suit season, put down the South Beach Diet book and drink some milk.