More whole milk can help avoid metabolic syndrome: Study

By Hal Conick

- Last updated on GMT

Whole milk may need to be increased in the human diet
Whole milk may need to be increased in the human diet

Related tags Nutrition

Although official dietary guidelines have advised against excessive consumption of whole fat milk for years, a study said it may be a good idea to include full-fat dairy products in a diet.

Research published in the Journal of Nutrition found that people who consume full-fat dairy products, such as whole milk, yogurt and cheese, are less likely to suffer from metabolic syndrome. This is a cluster of conditions (such as high blood pressure and abnormal cholesterol levels) which together increase the risk of stroke, diabetes and heart disease.

“Total and especially full-fat dairy food intakes are inversely and independently associated with metabolic syndrome in middle-aged and older adults, associations that seem to be mediated by dairy saturated fatty acids,”​ the research said.

“Dietary recommendations to avoid full-fat dairy intake are not supported by our findings.”

Positive effects

Researchers went in with the background knowledge that dairy products may product positive cardiometabolic effects. However, many current guidelines, such as the USDA’s Dietary Guidelines for Americans, suggest limiting the intake of these types of products or replacing whole-fat products with those lower in fat content.

To assess this advice, researchers investigated the association of dairy consumption, its products and dairy fat content with metabolic syndrome.

They looked at baseline data from the Brazilian Longitudinal Study of Adult Health, featuring more than 15,000 adults ages 35 to 74, and excluded patients with metabolic diseases.

After looking at aspects of dairy consumption, metabolic risk, blood pressure and more, the researchers found an inverse association for metabolic disease with regular and full-fat dairy, but none with low-fat dairy.

According to statistics from the USDA, there were more than 36m pounds of whole milk sold in the US in 1975. As of 2014, that number was just under 14m pounds.

Source: ​The Journal of Nutrition, October 28, 2015, doi: 10.3945/​jn.115.220699.

Title: "Total and Full-Fat, but Not Low-Fat, Dairy Product Intakes are Inversely Associated with Metabolic Syndrome in Adults"

Authors​: M. Drehmer, M. Pereira, M. Schmidt, S. Alvim, P. Lotufo, V. Luft, and B. Duncan.

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2 comments

were the cows in Brazil grass fed?

Posted by Nurse Roberta,

This article does not clarify if the cows were grass fed which would mean the milk was rich in omega three.
In the USA the cows are corn and soy fed which is omega six.
BIG DIFFERENCE!

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Butter IS Back!

Posted by Lowfatscamexposed,

Neither cholesterol nor saturated fat cause heart disease. Credit Suisse sum up this 1950s myth in a recent report:

"A proper review of the so called “fat paradoxes” (France, Israel and Japan) suggests that saturated fats are actually healthy and omega-6 fats, at current levels of consumption in the developed world, are not.

The big concern regarding eating cholesterol-rich foods (e.g. eggs) is completely without foundation. There is basically no link between the cholesterol we eat and the level of cholesterol in our blood. This was already known thirty years ago and has been confirmed time and time again. Eating cholesterol rich foods has no negative effect on health in general or on risk of cardiovascular diseases (CVDs), in particular."

http://drmalcolmkendrick.org/2...

Furthermore, a recent study out of Brazil concluded:

"Dietary recommendations to avoid full-fat dairy intake are not supported by our findings," the researchers conclude.

The study of more than 15,000 civil servants in Brazil examined the connection between the types of dairy products people consume and their likelihood to suffer from metabolic syndrome. The syndrome is characterized by high blood pressure, high blood sugar, belly fat, and risky levels of cholesterol and triglycerides in the blood.

What the researchers found is that consumption of full-fat dairy products such as whole milk, as well as butter and yogurt, was associated with lower likelihood of the risk factors that make up metabolic syndrome. Consumption of low-fat dairy products, by contrast, was not associated with this health advantage, the researchers noted. The study was supported by the Brazilian Ministry of Health and the Brazilian Ministry of Science, Technology and Innovation."

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/wonk/wp/2015/10/29/more-research-undermines-the-u-s-governments-case-against-whole-milk/

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