Why are whole milk and yogurt healthier than you think?

For years, experts have been recommending low-fat dairy products instead of full-fat versions, which contain more calories and contain more saturated fats. Recent research, however, indicates that high-fat dairy products may be healthier than their reputation suggests, and that people who consume high-fat dairy products are no more likely to develop cardiovascular disease and diabetes. type 2. They may even be less likely to gain weight.

Now, a new research published Tuesday The lancet, add to this set of evidence.

Research suggests that the consumption of dairy products of all kinds is associated with a lower risk of premature death, cardiovascular disease and stroke. "About three servings of dairy products per day are associated with a lower risk of mortality and cardiovascular disease," said study co-author Mahshid Dehghan, a researcher in nutritional epidemiology at the Institute for Research on Disease. population health in Canada. "We suggest that dairy products are healthy, and people should be encouraged to consume dairy products."

The dietary guidelines for Americans also recommend consuming about three servings of dairy products a day, but specify that these foods should not contain fat or fat. New research suggests, however, that high-fat dairy products can also be part of a healthy diet. Although data on milk and yogurt consumption are stronger than those on butter and cheese, milk users consumed more fat than fat, suggesting that these results are more likely to be higher than those for butter and cheese. apply particularly to whole dairy products.

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The observational study was based on data from approximately 136,000 adults who participated in the Urban Urban Epidemiology (PURE) study, which collected information on diet and health in 21 out of five countries. continents. (The US was not part of it, but Canada was.) None of the people included in the study had a history of cardiovascular disease and all of them had conducted a detailed nutrition survey with questions about the type and frequency of milk consumption. After about nine years of follow-up, about 10,500 people died or had a major cardiovascular problem, such as a heart attack or stroke.

According to the researchers, the consumption of dairy products was associated with a lower risk for both results. Compared with those who did not eat dairy products, total mortality rates (3.4% vs. 5.6%) and cardiovascular mortality rates were lower for people who consumed more than two servings a day (0, 9% against 1.6%). They also had lower rates of major cardiovascular disease (3.5% vs. 4.9%) and stroke (1.2% vs. 2.9%).

And among those who ate only high-fat dairy products, those who ate about three servings a day had lower mortality rates than those who consumed less than 0.5 servings per day (3.3% vs. 4). , 4%).

This finding suggests that denigrating entire dairy products solely because of their higher saturated fat content – even though many studies link saturated fat to heart disease – may not reflect the entire situation, according to the report. Mr. Dehghan.

"The focus on fat is mainly based on the assumption that saturated fat increases LDL cholesterol," she says. "But dairy products contain many other components [which may be healthy] – amino acids, vitamin K, calcium, magnesium. They can be fermented and have probiotics. We should not focus on one nutrient. And the rest of the food is also important. According to recent research, eating dairy foods is probably better than loading refined carbohydrates.

The new research has several limitations. Study participants only conducted a diet survey at the beginning of the research period, so the results did not take into account changes in eating habits over time. The nine-year follow-up period was also relatively short in terms of measuring long-term health outcomes such as cardiovascular disease. And observational studies can never prove the cause and effect, but only models and associations.

In addition, while trends were consistent in all regions, many countries in the PURE study have low or medium incomes. Residents of these countries tend to eat fewer dairy products than people in rich countries, which may mean that they will benefit more from increased consumption than people in the United States and Canada. 39, other developed regions. Nor was there much data on people who eat more than three servings of dairy products per day, which means that it was not possible to say how much of a high consumption affects health.

Pharmaceutical companies, including Boehringer Ingelheim and GlaxoSmithKline, also contributed to research funding, although they were not involved in the design or production of the study. GlaxoSmithKline manufactures Horlicks, a milk-based nutritional drink, while Boehringer Ingelheim's animal health division manufactures drugs for dairy cows.

An accompanying editorial written by Jimmy Chun Yu Louie, of the University of Hong Kong, and Anna Rangan, of Sydney University – both related to Dairy Australia – says study should not be considered "the ultimate seal of approval for recommending whole dairy products rather than their low fat or skim counterparts. Readers should be cautious and should consider this study only as another (certainly important) piece of evidence in the literature.

Dehghan takes a similar approach to the results, adding that the study is important in part because it extends nutritional research beyond its traditionally North American and European epicentres.

"We suggest not to discourage and perhaps even encourage dairy products, especially in low- and middle-income countries where milk product consumption is low or in people who consume very small amounts of dairy products. ".