The latest research on calcium is very exciting for athletes and others that want to keep their bodies lean. A high intake of calcium appears to enhance your body’s capacity to burn fat for energy and reduce body fat levels. It’s common knowledge that calcium is necessary for strong bones and teeth. Now, research is showing it’s critical for favorable body composition.
Scientists at the University of Colorado have shown that people who have a high calcium intake can mobilize stored fat and use it for energy much easier that people on a low calcium intake.
Mobilizing Body Fat
The key here is calcium’s ability to mobilize fat. The only way to get rid of body fat is to mobilize it from fat cells so that other cells (such as muscles) can burn it for energy. This research showed that a high calcium intake helps the body mobilize fat from fat cells and use it for fuel.
Another important way scientists believe calcium is critical for fat breakdown is its ability to switch-on chemicals called “uncoupling proteins” that are located in the mitochondria of muscle cells. Activating “uncoupling proteins” ensures that excess calories are burnt as heat rather than stored as fat.
These are important discoveries that can help athletes and non-athletes alike construct nutrition plans that take advantage of key nutrients in everyday foods to allow your body to burn fat as a result of the food you eat instead of the other way around.
An athlete’s diet should be high in calcium. Low-fat dairy products such as milk, yogurt, cottage cheese and protein supplements such as MyoGenin and VP2 Whey Isolate are rich sources of calcium and provide the needed nutrient for this fat-burning effect. Make sure your diet is high in these calcium-containing foods.
Int Journal of Obesity
