High-fat milk, yogurt, and other dairy are rarely recommended as healthy foods. Instead, you’ve likely been told to opt for low-fat dairy like skim milk. But that recommendation may have been turned on its head.
A large international study has just found that eating more full-fat dairy is associated with a lower risk of high blood pressure, type-2 diabetes, and metabolic disorders.
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I’m sorry if your world has just been flipped and turned upside down.
The results were recently published in the BMJ Open Diabetes Research & Care. Researchers looked at people from 21 countries across continents for an average follow-up of 9 years. There were nearly 150,000 participants between the ages of 35 and 70.
Using a questionnaire to track food intake, researchers learned that those who ate more full-fat dairy had a higher chance of avoiding high blood pressure and metabolic syndrome. Metabolic syndrome is often a precursor to type-2 diabetes.
Although there were regional discrepancies, investigators report that, on average, people were eating about 179 grams of dairy each day. That’s slightly less than a glass of milk or a cup of yogurt.
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Key findings include:
- At least 2 servings per day of dairy were associated with a 24% lower risk of metabolic syndrome compared to having none at all.
- At least 2 servings of whole fat dairy per day with a 28% lower risk or metabolic syndrome.
- Consuming only low-fat dairy was not associated with a drop in metabolic syndrome risk.
- At least 2 servings of dairy per day were associated with am 11-12% lower risk of having both diabetes and high blood pressure.
Dairy foods, and its fat, are nutrient-dense and contain a variety of vitamins and minerals, which can all contribute to overall health.
More work needs to be done on this topic, but reaching for full-fat milk, yogurt, and cheese could be another easy and affordable way to combat some common, yet severe, health problems.
Mohan Garikiparithi got his degree in medicine from Osmania University (University of Health Sciences). He practiced clinical medicine for over a decade before he shifted his focus to the field of health communications. During his active practice he served as the head of the Dept. of Microbiology in a diagnostic centre in India. On a three-year communications program in Germany, Mohan developed a keen interest in German Medicine (Homoeopathy), and other alternative systems of medicine. He now advocates treating different medical conditions without the use of traditional drugs. An ardent squash player, Mohan believes in the importance of fitness and wellness.
