Eating more dairy while dieting doesn’t reduce inflammation in fat tissue—both groups had the same levels of immune cells and inflammatory signals in their fat.
Scientific Claim
In overweight and obese adults on a 12-week energy-restricted diet, dairy intake at 3–4 servings per day does not reduce subcutaneous adipose tissue inflammation, as measured by macrophage infiltration, CD68 expression, or inflammatory gene expression (TNF-α, IL-6, MCP-1), compared to ≤1 serving per day.
Original Statement
“Changes in the relative transcript abundances for inflammatory (TNF-α, IL-6, MCP-1) and metabolic (FAS and UCP2) genes in SAT were not different between treatment groups... Changes in macrophage number relative to the total number of adipocytes did not change during the study.”
Evidence Quality Assessment
Claim Status
appropriately stated
Study Design Support
Design supports claim
Appropriate Language Strength
definitive
Can make definitive causal claims
Assessment Explanation
The controlled feeding RCT with direct tissue sampling provides strong causal evidence. The claim accurately reflects the absence of effect on inflammatory markers.
Evidence from Studies
Supporting (1)
This study gave some people 3–4 servings of dairy a day and others just 1 serving while both groups lost weight, and found no difference in fat tissue inflammation between the two groups — so more dairy didn’t help reduce inflammation.