The United States Department of Agriculture and the American Heart Association ( AHA ) recommend that adults do not exceed three servings of low-fat dairy products per day, since the high saturated fat content that is Found in dairy products, it can raise “bad” cholesterol levels, posing a threat to cardiovascular health. However, new research challenges these guidelines.
The large-scale observational study published in The Lancet magazine has reviewed the eating habits of more than 130,000 people in 21 countries on five continents and has found that whole dairy is correlated with a lower risk of mortality and cardiovascular disease.
The researchers used food questionnaires to collect data on the eating habits of 136,384 people over a 9.1-year follow-up period. The people surveyed were between 35 and 70 years old, and the dairy products they consumed were milk, yogurt and cheese.
In the study, a dairy serving comprised a 244-gram glass of milk, a 244-gram cup of yogurt, a 15-gram slice of cheese, or a 5-gram teaspoon of butter.
Based on this, the team divided the volunteers into four groups: those who did not consume dairy products, those who did not consume dairy products every day, those who consumed one or two servings a day, and the “high intake” group, who ate more than two servings a day, or 3.2 servings, on average, every day.
The study revealed that people in the high-intake group were less likely to die from any cause, less likely to die from cardiovascular disease, and less likely to have a stroke or develop major heart disease.
In addition, within the group that regularly consumed whole dairy products, experts found that the more whole dairy products consumed, the lower the risk of mortality and cardiovascular problems.
“Our findings support that the consumption of dairy products could be beneficial for mortality and cardiovascular disease, especially in low- and middle-income countries where the consumption of dairy products is much lower than in North America or Europe,” he explains Mahshid Dehghan, leader of the work.
Should dietary guidelines be changed?
Although this is an observational study that cannot confirm causation, the results suggest that some saturated fats in whole dairy products may benefit cardiovascular health, as may some vitamins and calcium. Does this mean that the current dietary guidelines should be changed? It seems. However, it is not about leaving aside the fat-free or low-fat counterparts, the authors themselves warn, as we emphasize that, although extensive, it is still an observational study.
“Readers should be careful, and treat this study as just another piece of evidence (albeit large) in the literature.”
Referencia: Association of dairy intake with cardiovascular disease and mortality in 21 countries from five continents (PURE): a prospective cohort study. Mahshid Dehghan, Andrew Mente, Sumathy Rangarajan, Patrick Sheridan, Prof Viswanathan Mohan, Romaina Iqbal, et al. THE LANCET 2018. DOI :https://doi.org/10.1016/S0140-6736(18)31812-9
