Is it true that I am at risk of bone loss when I diet?

The I.D.E.A.L. Diet study and a more recent study that looked at dieting and its impact on pre-menopausal women’s bone health found that what you choose to eat, when cutting calories, can profoundly impact your bone health.

The research looked at three groups of women who exercised daily but consumed varying amounts of dairy products. The results were important, since many people who decide to diet, end up shunning full fat dairy foods and may also decide to nix lower fat dairy products as well. Of the three groups, only the women who consumed a diet higher in dairy products were able to avoid bone density loss. The conclusion is that dairy products need to be included in a weight loss diet, if your goal is better health thanks to weight loss, while NOT losing precious bone density. Fortified dairy foods provide calcium, vitamin D, phosphorus, magnesium and potassium.

You can make skim milk creamier by adding powdered non-fat milk and both low fat and fat free Greek yogurt are still pretty creamy and satisfying. Use evaporated skim milk to make soups creamy without adding saturated fat (and significantly more calories) and use part-skim cheeses to create lighter pizza recipes.

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