A 15-week study at the Division of Kinesiology, Department of Social and Preventive Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, Laval University, Ste-Foy, Québec, Canada, was recently published in the British Journal of Nutrition.

The randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled study was entitled…Calcium plus vitamin D supplementation and fat mass loss in female very low-calcium consumers: potential link with a calcium-specific appetite control.

The researchers found that the women who had consumed 600 mg or less of elemental calcium per day did not show significant fat loss, but the women who took 1,200 mg of calcium daily showed a significant decrease in body weight, fat mass, and spontaneous dietary lipid (fat) intake. Meaning, not only did it positively influence body composition but the dietary fat intake also went down, which possibly means that the brain may not be craving as much fat.

Daily recommendations are follows:

Women 25 to 50 years: should take: 1000 mg. During pregnancy and lactation 1200 to 1500 mg.

Women over 50 years: with supplementary estrogen replacement, 1000 mg. Women over 50 years, without supplementary estrogen replacement should take 1500 mg.

Women over 65 years: 1500 mg

Be sure to take a magnesium supplement as well, as it’s nearly pandemic decreased in most male and female Americans. Calcium to magnesium should be at a 2:1 ratio, although this element was not included in this study.

In essence here’s what’s important…

If you are female and are low in calcium and vitamin D, your body may be struggling with mobilizing fat for energy. In the study, the women who were calcium deficient really didn’t lose much weight, only 2.2 pounds. But the women who were very low in calcium and supplemented  lost 13.2 pounds. That’s SIX TIMES the weight loss.