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May 13

The Yogurt Diet: Weight Loss Fact or Fiction? – Healthline

Long Term Weight Loss Comments Off on The Yogurt Diet: Weight Loss Fact or Fiction? – Healthline

Yogurt is a fermented dairy product thats enjoyed worldwide as a creamy breakfast or snack.

Moreover, its associated with bone health and digestive benefits. Some people even claim that it supports weight loss (1, 2).

In fact, several diets center solely around yogurt, asserting that its key to helping you shed weight. Still, you may wonder how these claims stand up to scientific scrutiny.

This article explains everything you need to know about specific yogurt diets and whether this popular dairy product helps you lose weight.

Multiple diets feature yogurt as a key component, insisting that this food helps you lose weight quickly.

This section reviews two of these diets to determine whether theyre based on sound science.

One such diet, promoted by actress Jeannie Mai, is known as the Yoplait Yogurt Diet or Yoplait Light Two Week Tune Up. Launched by the yogurt company Yoplait, it claims to help individuals lose 25 pounds (12.5 kg) over 14 days.

This diet has you eating yogurt at least twice a day. Its rules include specific instructions for meals and snacks:

The diet reduces your calorie intake to just 1,200 calories per day and recommends that you increase your physical activity by walking 3040 minutes every day. Together, these factors result in a calorie deficit, which may help you lose weight (3, 4).

Some proponents of the diet maintain that the focus on fat-free yogurt is also beneficial, claiming that the fat in other yogurts ups your bodys production of the stress hormone cortisol. This increase is thought to boost levels of anxiety and hunger.

While research links higher cortisol levels to an increase in appetite and obesity risk, dietary fat has not been tied to a significant increase in cortisol levels (5, 6, 7).

In fact, fat-free yogurts like Yoplait Light are often higher in sugar, which has been shown to raise cortisol levels and hunger. Additionally, studies associate full fat dairy products with a reduced risk of obesity (8, 9, 10).

Furthermore, as the diet only lasts 2 weeks and is quite restrictive, youre likely to regain any weight lost if you dont transition into a more sustainable eating pattern afterward.

Overall, the Yoplait Light Two Week Tune Up is primarily a marketing campaign that isnt based on scientific evidence.

While you may lose some weight, this is a result of cutting calories not eating yogurt. This diet is unlikely to lead to meaningful or long-term weight loss.

Nutritionist Ana Luque promotes an eating pattern called the Yogurt Diet in her book of the same name, which says that yogurt is the secret to losing weight and supporting overall health.

Specifically, she declares that the probiotics in yogurt help treat obesity, lactose intolerance, digestive problems, acid reflux, irritable bowel syndrome (IBS), allergies, diabetes, gum disease, yeast infections, slow metabolism, and ulcers.

The book also includes a 5-week detox diet that involves eating several servings of yogurt each day.

While the author asserts that this diet helped her overcome digestive issues and lactose intolerance, theres currently no evidence to support the effectiveness of her diet plan.

Both Yoplaits and Ana Luques yogurt diets are based on the notion that yogurt promotes weight loss. However, neither diet has been studied for its short- or long-term effectiveness, and the Yoplait diet, in particular, is packed with added sugar.

Several theories suggest that yogurt supports weight loss due to its various nutrients.

Dairy yogurt is considered an excellent source of calcium, with 1 cup (245 grams) providing approximately 23% of the Daily Value (DV) (11).

Calcium is an essential mineral thats important for bone health. It has also been studied for its weight loss effects (12, 13).

Test-tube studies reveal that higher blood levels of calcium may reduce fat cell growth. Similarly, animal studies link calcium supplements to significant reductions in body weight and fat mass (13).

However, the effect of calcium on weight loss in humans is mixed.

A study in 4,733 people associated calcium supplements with significantly less weight gain over time in children, adolescents, adult men, premenopausal women, and adults with a healthy body mass index (BMI) (14).

However, the overall effect of the supplements was quite small. On average, those taking calcium gained 2.2 pounds (1 kg) less than those not taking the supplements (14).

A few other studies suggest that dietary or supplementary calcium may aid weight and fat loss in children, post-menopausal women with obesity, and men with type 2 diabetes (15, 16, 17).

Yet, several other studies dont show a significant link between increased calcium intake and weight loss (13, 18, 19, 20, 21).

As such, more research on yogurts calcium content is needed.

Yogurts protein content may aid weight loss in various ways. These include:

One cup (245 grams) of yogurt boasts anywhere from 8 grams of protein in regular yogurt to 22 grams in Greek yogurt (11, 32).

However, this dairy product isnt unique in its protein content. Foods like lean meat, poultry, fish, eggs, beans, and soy are also excellent sources of protein (33).

Yogurt is a good source of probiotics, which are beneficial bacteria that support gut health (34, 35).

While research is limited, early studies suggest that probiotics especially those containing Lactobacillus bacteria, which is common in yogurt may help you lose weight and belly fat (36, 37, 38).

A 43-day study in 28 overweight adults found that eating 3.5 ounces (100 grams) of yogurt with Lactobacillus amylovorus per day resulted in greater reductions in body fat than yogurt without probiotics (38).

While these results are promising, further research is needed.

Yogurt is a good source of calcium, protein, and probiotics. While more studies on calcium and probiotics are necessary, its protein content may support weight loss.

Its nutrients aside, you may wonder what studies show about yogurt and weight loss. Notably, various ways of including it in your diet may change how it affects your weight.

In a 2-year study in 8,516 adults, those who ate more than 7 servings of yogurt per week were less likely to have overweight or obesity than individuals who ate 2 or fewer servings per week (39).

Similarly, a study in 3,440 people found that those who ate at least 3 servings of yogurt per week gained less weight and had smaller changes in waist circumference than those who ate less than 1 serving per week (40).

While intriguing, these studies are observational and cannot prove cause and effect.

In a review of six randomized controlled trials the gold standard of scientific research only one study determined that yogurt had a significant effect on weight loss (2, 41).

As such, while those who regularly consume yogurt may be less likely to have overweight or obesity, research doesnt currently show that simply adding it to your diet aids weight loss.

Interestingly, replacing a high fat, low protein food with yogurt may boost weight loss.

One study gave 20 healthy women either 160 calories (6 ounces or 159 grams) of yogurt as an afternoon snack or the same number of calories from high fat crackers and chocolate (42).

When eating yogurt, the women reported feeling fuller for longer. Furthermore, they consumed an average of 100 fewer calories at dinner (42).

Thus, replacing other snack foods with yogurt may help you control your appetite and consume fewer calories.

While regularly eating yogurt is linked to a reduced risk of excess weight and obesity, its unclear whether simply adding it to your diet aids weight loss. That said, replacing low protein, high calorie snacks with yogurt is likely to help.

Although yogurt can be part of a nutritious diet, not all products are healthy.

In fact, many yogurts pack high amounts of added sugar, especially fat-free and low fat flavored varieties.

Diets high in added sugars are associated with an increased risk of obesity and weight gain, as well as conditions like heart disease and type 2 diabetes (43, 44, 45, 46).

Thus, you should read the label on yogurt before buying it. Plain and unsweetened yogurts are best, as they dont contain added sugars.

As many yogurts are high in added sugars, its important to read labels and opt for plain or unsweetened varieties.

Yogurt can make a nutritious and versatile addition to your diet. Here are some healthy ways to incorporate it into your routine:

Yogurt is a versatile ingredient that can be enjoyed on its own as a breakfast or snack. It can also be used in cooking and baking.

As an excellent source of calcium, protein, and probiotics, yogurt has been lauded as a weight loss aid.

Still, fad diets like the Yoplait Two Week Tune Up and Ana Luques Yogurt Diet arent well studied and may even have negative health effects.

Yogurt may be most beneficial for weight loss when used to replace high calorie, low protein foods rather than when simply added to your diet. As it may help you feel full for longer, this dairy product could naturally lead you to eat fewer calories throughout the day.

Furthermore, regular yogurt intake is tied to a reduced risk of excess weight and obesity.

Overall, eating yogurt as part of a balanced diet can be a nutritious and satisfying way to support weight loss.

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The Yogurt Diet: Weight Loss Fact or Fiction? - Healthline

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