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 New international research, presented at a dairy conference in Melbourne, surprisingly reveals that milk lovers have a reduced risk of heart disease and stroke.
A review of 10 long term studies has found no evidence of an increased risk of cardiovascular disease from drinking milk. Similarly, people who enjoy higher than average amounts of dairy are less likely to be obese or to have high blood pressure or to develop the metabolic syndrome (a cluster of symptoms associated with heart disease) than those who consume little dairy.
Professor Peter Elwood from Cardiff University in the UK reported on the review published in the European Journal of Clinical Nutrition. He concluded that people with an above average milk intake had a 15 per cent lower risk of heart disease or stroke than people who consumed little or no milk.
“This conclusion is based on data from around 400,000 people who were monitored for between eight and 28 years – the equivalent of eight million person-years of observation. Interestingly, most of the milk they consumed was regular-fat milk,” Professor Elwood said.
These findings are somewhat surprising, as milk contributes to dietary saturated fat intake and therefore may increase cholesterol levels. In the past milk has copped bad press due to the focus on this cholesterol effect which has resulted in a huge drop in milk consumption in many countries. However, this review has highlighted the need to weigh risks against benefits. Aside from its firm role in protecting bone health, milk also decreases blood pressure and has positive effects on other biological mechanisms relevant to cardiovascular disease. These benefits appear to outweigh the cholesterol raising effect and produce an overall reduced risk of cardiovascular disease reported in the review, which will no doubt help restore milk to the top shelf of the heart health diet.
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