Daily Democrat, CA
02-09-07
Weight-loss study volunteers needed
Daily Democrat
Yolo County residents who would like to shed some of those extra pounds
gained during the winter holidays might want to consider volunteering for a dairyfoods oriented weight-loss study.
Agricultural Research Service scientists at the agency's Western Human
Nutrition Research Center in Davis, are seeking 75 local, 25- to 45-year-old
overweight or obese men and women non-smokers to participate in the
investigation. Individuals selected for the study will receive - free of charge - all of
the foods and beverages required for the weight-loss stint.
In addition, those chosen to participate will be paid for completing the
investigation and will receive the results of their lab tests, that is, their blood lipid,
cholesterol, body fat and bone density measurements.
The 15-week regimen may yield clues to the relation between fat loss and the
number of servings of dairy foods that volunteers eat daily - as part of a healthful
weight-loss regimen.
Prospective volunteers must not be pregnant, nor plan to become pregnant
during the study and - of course - must not be allergic to dairy foods.
In addition, candidates should not be taking calcium tablets or chews and should
not be consuming more than one serving of dairy foods a day - the equivalent of
either one glass of milk, two ounces of cheese, or one cup of yogurt, for instance.
During the first five weeks of the study and again during the last three weeks,
volunteers will be asked to come to the Center to eat two of their three daily
meals there every weekday. For example, volunteers could come to the center
for breakfast, take their "to-go" lunch with them, then return to the center for
dinner: Weekend meals will be "packed to go" on Friday afternoons.
For the intermediate weeks of the project, volunteers will need to report once a
week to the Center to meet with a dietitian, get weighed, have their waist
measured, and pick up food for the week's meals.
The ARS Western Human Nutrition Research Center is located in a newly
constructed, two-story building at 430 West Health Science Drive on the west
side of the UC Davis campus, just off Highway 113 at the Hutchison Drive exit.
Earlier studies, conducted elsewhere, suggest that calcium from dairy foods
enhances the success of weight-loss regimens. According to dietitian and project
manager Elaine. C. Souza at the research center, the new study's emphasis on
number of servings per day may shed new light on previous findings.
Marta D. Van Loan, an ARS research physiologist at the nutrition center is the
principal investigator for the project. She's doing the work with Nancy L. Keim, a
research chemist at the center who is investigating dairy foods' effects on
appetite control; and with Sean H. Adams, a research physiologist there, and
Michael E. Spurlock of the Department of Animal Science at Iowa State
University-Ames.
Adams and Spurlock will study the changes that occur in fat cells as a result of
eating dairy foods at mealtime and as snacks.
The National Dairy Council, Rosemont, Ill., and the Dairy Council of California,
Sacramento, representing U.S. and California dairy farmers, are sponsoring the
study.
Local residents who would like to be evaluated as volunteers should call the
Western Human Nutrition Research Center Volunteer Hotline at 752-5177 and
select the dairy study, option 5.