Two recent studies have given women and their doctors new hope for battling weight and heart disease. The first one shows that getting calcium from dairy products could actually help people lose weight. The second study says estrogen therapy can cut women's risk of a heart attack in half.
Women often stay away from dairy products, because they are afraid of the fat.
Now a study published in the Journal of the American College of Nutrition may have young women reevaluating that idea. The study found that women with the highest intake of calcium from dairy foods lost the most weight over a two year period. However, the study could not explain how calcium affects body weight and fat. They also caution that anyone considering changing their diet should consult their physician first. The second study, published in the American Journal of Epidemiology, looked at 300,000 women over a 12 year period to determine the effects of taking estrogen.