Does milk help advance weight loss? This might come as a surprise to most of us because many of the popular diet programs exclude or minimize milk and other dairy products as part of their regimes.  A two-year study shows not only that milk drinkers lose more weight, but that Vitamin D has other health benefits besides preventing skin cancer.

Researchers from Ben-Gurion University (Israel), the University of Leipzig (Germany), and Harvard University (U.S.) investigated the controversial role of daily calcium intake and serum vitamin D concentrations on weight loss. They followed 322 participants who were on low fat, low carbohydrates, or Mediterranean diets for two years.

The study found that those who consumed the highest dairy calcium content (average amount of two glasses of milk a day) lost about 12 pounds compared to participants who consumed the lowest dairy calcium content that lost an average of 7 pounds.

What’s more, it wasn’t just calcium that contributed to the weight loss. Vitamin D levels in milk, studied independently, showed that it also helped contribute to weight loss.  Research also shows that Vitamin D in milk may also protect against diabetes, hypertension, and heart disease.