The buttermilk diet is supposed to help us lose weight in a healthy way. How the method works and whether it brings something, we explain here.
What is the buttermilk diet?
There are different variants of the buttermilk diet, but they all have one thing in common: increased consumption of buttermilk is supposed to help you lose weight. Depending on which method of dieting you follow, you either add buttermilk to every meal, completely replace a meal with the drink or even consume only buttermilk.
Why should buttermilk help to lose weight?
The background to the diet is that buttermilk is considered very healthy: it contains a lot of protein, calcium, and minerals, but does not contain much fat or calories. 100 milliliters of buttermilk contain only about 35 kilocalories. The proteins it contains provide long-lasting satiety, and calcium also activates various hormones and enzymes involved in weight regulation. And: buttermilk contains a lot of zinc, which can improve insulin secretion and thus keep blood sugar levels constant. This prevents cravings. By the way: Contrary to what you might think, there is no butter in buttermilk - it is only a by-product of butter production.
How does the buttermilk diet work?
Depending on which variant of the buttermilk diet you follow, you have to pay attention to different things:
Buttermilk as a supplement: in this concept, buttermilk is used only as a supplement to an otherwise already healthy diet. The buttermilk can either be drunk separately with every meal or incorporated into it - for example, by enriching one's cereal with buttermilk or using it to make a dressing for the salad. For a healthy diet that also helps you lose weight, include products with fiber (e.g., whole-grain pasta or bread), eggs, fish, lean meat, plenty of fruit and vegetables, and healthy fats (e.g., olive oil or nuts). Sugar, finished products and alcohol should be avoided as far as possible. With this form of buttermilk diet, you can lose weight slowly but sustainably.
Buttermilk as a meal replacement: Another method is to replace one of three meals per day with 500 milliliters of buttermilk. On the one hand, this increases the intake of proteins, which accelerate muscle building and keep you full for a long time, and on the other hand, it automatically limits the intake of carbohydrates.
In general, both concepts are moderate with buttermilk, deficiency symptoms are rather unlikely if care is taken to supply the body with all important nutrients at meals. The buttermilk diet in these forms can help to change the diet sustainably. The last method is different:
Drinking exclusively buttermilk: The strictest form of the buttermilk diet involves actually eating only buttermilk. This variant is rather not recommended: One takes in too few carbohydrates, calories, fat, and minerals, and the body can slip into an undersupply. Although one will lose weight so quickly, the risk for the JoJo effect is high, because the diet itself is not changed sustainably. In addition, the concept is like any crash diet anyway difficult to sustain.
Conclusion of the buttermilk diet
Milk is undoubtedly healthy and fits well with a healthy diet. The two moderate variants also support weight loss - slowly, but sustainably. Who likes to drink buttermilk anyway, could give the buttermilk diet a chance. Only the strict variant is strongly discouraged - the risks of deficiency symptoms and the yo-yo effect are simply too great if you only drink buttermilk.