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Here's an article to those who love to drink milk.
A. P. Nugent of The National Dairy Council in Dublin, Ireland wrote:
Quote:
The truth about milk!
Milk and milk drinking have once again hit the headlines, this time in relation to heart health benefits. In the past, concerns had been raised relating to milk consumption and heart health; however, a recently published review of this area concluded that these concerns are unfounded and showed that drinking milk actually reduces risk of cardiovascular disease.
Previously, a number of ecological studies reported that milk consumption and risk of coronary heart disease were linked (Segall 1977). However, ecological studies are observational in nature and unable to account for many confounding factors, leaving the strength of their conclusions weakened. In contrast, examining the relationship between milk and heart health within a representative population cohort, with attention given to appropriate confounding factors, would be expected to provide more meaningful information. Using this approach, Prof. Peter Elwood and colleagues at the University of Cardiff decided to study the published literature in relation to milk and heart health (Elwood et al. 2004).
Elwood et al. (2004) searched the published literature for prospective cohort studies and identified 10 studies where incidence of heart disease and stroke was related to estimates of milk intake at baseline. These studies involved a total of 400 000 men and women in the USA, the UK, Japan, the Netherlands and Italy, who were followed for 8–28 years. All studies met strict accuracy and consistency criteria for inclusion in Elwood’s analysis. Estimates of milk consumption were based on milk drunk, milk used on cereal, intake of milk products, calcium from dairy sources, total calcium intake or a combination of these. The pooled information revealed a 13% lower risk of heart disease and a 17% lower risk of stroke for those with the highest milk consumption compared to those with the lowest. The authors concluded that milk drinking was associated with ‘a small but worthwhile reduction in heart disease and stroke risk’.
Following on from this review, another prospective cohort study was published based on the Caerphilly cohort of older men in Wales (Elwood et al. 2005). In this study, men with the highest milk consumption had a 48% lower risk of stroke and a 12% lower risk of heart disease events, adding further evidence that there is a reduced risk of vascular disease from milk drinking.
There is a common misconception that milk is fattening and, unfortunately, many people exclude it from their diet in an attempt to control weight. This is neither advisable nor necessary. Indeed, results from a representative sample of the Irish population reveal that women who drank two-thirds of a pint of whole milk each day had the same bodyweight as those who only drank enough milk for two or three cups of tea (NDC 2002). Worryingly, approximately one-third of adult women in Ireland and the UK are not eating enough calcium to meet their dietary needs (NDC 2002; Henderson et al. 2003). Concern also exists for other population subgroups, particularly teenage girls. The implications of these suboptimal calcium intakes are quite stark considering that approximately 1 in 3 women and 1 in 5 men are currently at risk of developing osteoporosis by age 50 (Melton et al. 1998). In contrast, simply including three servings of dairy products (five for teenagers and pregnant mums) as part of a healthy balanced diet will meet the dietary calcium needs of most of the population and hence may protect against osteoporosis (Tully 2005).
Furthermore, an emerging body of evidence appears to support a role for calcium in helping to protect against other conditions such as hypertension, excess bodyweight and even certain types of cancer (for review see Theobald 2005). This timely review by Prof. Elwood will act as a reassurance to health professionals and the general public that milk drinking forms an integral part of a healthy balanced diet. Furthermore, the balance of evidence suggests that milk consumption may even have a unique protective effect against heart disease and stroke.
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