A study published in the December 2005 issue of Obesity Research suggested that exercising adults who ate a slightly reduced-calorie diet and consumed three to four servings of dairy a day changed their metabolism and burned more fat than those who consumed one serving of dairy a day.

The study included 19 overweight men and women, ages 20 to 50, who usually exercised fewer than three hours a week. During the seven-week study the participants consumed either a low-dairy diet or a diet that included three or four servings of dairy each day. Several times during the study researchers measured the subjects' rate of fat oxidation and found that the high-dairy consumers burned more fat.

The researchers theorize that calcium helps the body metabolize fat more efficiently.—Dana Sullivan