Role of Dairy Products in Weight Maintenance

The goal of the current study is to determine the role of dairy in similarly preventing weight and fat re-gain in obese adults who have successfully completed a weight loss diet program.240 obese subjects will undergo a meal-replacement-based weight loss plan designed to produce a 10 kg weight loss in 8-12 weeks. Upon achieving the weight loss goal, subjects will be randomly assigned to either a low-dairy or high-dairy eucaloric weight maintenance diet for two years. Macronutrient distribution will be maintained constant and set at approximately the U.S. average. Primary outcomes include changes in body weight, body fat and anatomical distribution of fat (via dual x-ray absorptiometry) and resting metabolic rate and substrate oxidation (via respiratory calorimetry); Secondary outcomes include blood pressure, circulating glucose, insulin, lipids and calcitrophic hormones. on prevention of weight regain in humans has not yet been assessed in clinical trials.