Eating at least two daily servings of dairy is linked to lower risks of diabetes and high blood pressure, as well as the cluster of factors that heighten cardiovascular disease risk (metabolic syndrome), finds a large international study published online in BMJ Open Diabetes Research & Care.
The observed associations were strongest for full fat dairy products, the findings indicated.
Previously published research has suggested that higher dairy intake is associated with a lower risk of diabetes, high blood pressure, and metabolic syndrome. But whereas these studies have tended to focus on North America and Europe to the exclusion of other regions of the world, the cohort for this new research was drawn from 21 countries throughout the world.
At least 2 servings a day of total dairy were associated with a 24% lower risk of metabolic syndrome, rising to 28% for full fat dairy alone, compared with no daily dairy intake.
At least 2 servings a day of total dairy was associated with an 11-12% lower risk of both conditions, rising to a 13-14% lower risk for 3 daily servings. The associations were stronger for full fat than they were for low fat dairy.
This is an observational study, and as such can’t establish cause. Food frequency questionnaires are also subject to recall, and changes in metabolic syndrome weren’t measured over time, all of which may have influenced the findings.
Nevertheless, the researchers suggest: “If our findings are confirmed in sufficiently large and long term trials, then increasing dairy consumption may represent a feasible and low cost approach to reducing [metabolic syndrome], hypertension, diabetes, and ultimately cardiovascular disease events worldwide.”
Source: ScienceDaily
