A healthy alternative to dairy with fat is effectively low-fat or skimmed dairy. However, this healthy choice becomes dangerous in light of the latest results from a group of researchers at Harvard University’s Boston Chan School of Public Health (USA), who have found that consuming large amounts Skimmed dairy products can increase your risk of Parkinson’s disease. The results have been published in the journal Neurology.
For their study, the experts set out to investigate past evidence linking an increased risk of Parkinson’s from consuming dairy products, particularly milk. Thus, they analyzed 25 years of data from more than 120,000 men and women, including 80,736 women who were part of the Nurses’ Health Study, as well as 48,610 men enrolled in the Health Professionals Follow-up Study.
Every 2 years, the participants completed a health questionnaire, and every 4 years, a dietary questionnaire. The researchers used the latter to assess what types of low-fat and low-fat dairy products they were consuming, including milk, cream, cheese, butter, ice cream and sorbet, as well as the frequency of intake of these dairy products.
After 25 years, 1,036 volunteers had developed the disease. The researchers found that the risk of Parkinson’s disease was higher for adults who ate at least 3 servings of low-fat dairy products every day, compared to those who ate just one serving. Specifically, the risk was 34% higher of developing Parkinson’s. Skimmed milk, especially, alone increased the risk by as much as 39%.
“The results provide evidence of a modest increase in the risk of Parkinson’s with increased consumption of low-fat dairy products, and these dairy products, which are widely consumed, could be a modifiable risk factor for the disease, ” clarifies Katherine C. Hughes, leader of the work.
Based on their findings, Hughes and his colleagues conclude that a higher intake of low-fat dairy products, especially milk, may be associated with an increased risk of Parkinson’s disease. However, they point out that their study is purely observational, so it is unable to prove cause and effect.
Reference: Does consuming low-fat dairy increase the risk of Parkinson’s disease? American Academy of Neurology. June 2017. DOI: 10.1212 / WNL.0000000000004078
