A recent study at Ohio State University seems to stomp on one of the recent dietary supplement approaches to weight loss. As per usual, the study focused on 12 weeks of weight loss which is the research standard for study length. The study found that all participants lost weight on a 500 calorie diet but there was no difference in loss whether dairy or supplement calcium was included. The story is here. Even the researchers aren’t happy since there’s still controversy in the medical literature as to whether calcium enhances weight loss. They are now focusing on markers of bone loss and related chemistry to try and pin down a mechanism.

The study has some shortcomings:

•  500 calories, that’s not much. Do more modest calorie cutbacks benefit from calicum?
• exercise + calcium? Does weight loss accelerate if calcium is added to diet + exercise rather than just diet alone?

Regardless, calcium still remains an important dietary supplement particularly for mature women who need to worry about the risk of osteoporosis.