Daily Calcium Intervention for a Weight-Loss Program Resulted in More Significant Decreases in Body Weight, BMI, Body Fat Mass, and Body Fat Percentage

The purpose of this study was to assess of calcium intervention on the effectiveness of a weight-loss program for obese people. All subjects had an initial BMI (body mass index) >24 kg/m2 and low calcium diet (<500 mg/d). Forty-two healthy overweight or obese people were randomly and equally divided into two groups: a Hi-Ca group (female: 16, male: 5) and a control group (female: 16, male: 5). In the Hi-Ca group, we provided two bottles of Hi-Ca drinks per day and a low energy diet (energy: 1200 kcal, carbohydrate: 55%, fat: 25%, protein: 20%) for eight weeks. In the control group, we only provided the low energy diet for eight weeks. We measured three-day food records, anthropometric and blood biochemical data at Weeks 0 and 8. Calcium intake was 964.5±75.5 mg in the Hi-Ca group and was 353.7±96.6 mg in the control group (p<0.05). After eight weeks, results showed the loss of body weight (-6.9±3.3 kg, p<0.05), BMI (-2.7±1.1 kg/m2 , p<0.01), body fat mass (-5.7±2.7 kg, p<0.05), body fat percentage (-4.4±1.9 %, p<0.002) and TC/HDL-C (-0.4±0.6, p<0.05) in the Hi-Ca group were significantly different from those of the control group at eight weeks. In the lipid profile, serum cholesterol, triglycerides and LDL-C concentration were significantly decreased compared with Week 0. The serum PTH (parathyroid hormone) levels in the Hi-Ca group were significantly lower compared with baseline (-5.3±10.4 pg/mL, p<0.05), which showed that the concentration of PTH and calcium intake are negatively correlated, and indicate that a high calcium low-energy diet resulted in more significant decreases in body weight, BMI, body fat mass, and body fat percentage. Therefore, a high calcium diet increases the effectiveness of an energy-restricted diet for weight loss in overweight people.