The study, published in Lancet, included 136,384 people in 21 countries followed for an average of nine years.
Total intake of two or more servings of full-fat dairy food was associated with a 22 percent lower risk of heart disease, a 34 percent lower risk of stroke, and a 23 percent lower risk of death from cardiovascular disease. (A serving was eight ounces of milk or yogurt, a teaspoon of butter or a half-ounce slice of cheese.)
There was no association with butter consumption alone, possibly because the population studied ate so little of it.
The study controlled for numerous factors, including age, sex, education, smoking, physical activity, and the consumption of fruit, vegetables, red meat and starchy foods.
The lead author, Mahshid Dehghan, a senior research associate at McMaster University in Hamilton, Ontario, said that current guidelines are based on the presumed harms of saturated fatty acids on a single risk marker, LDL, or “bad,” cholesterol.
But dairy products include many different nutrients.
“We should not discourage consumption of dairy, especially among people who already have low daily consumption,” she said.
“If people consume very low amounts (of dairy), they should be encouraged to increase their consumption.”
© 2018 The New York Times News Service
To read the full story, Subscribe Now at just Rs 249 a month
Already a subscriber? Log in
Subscribe To BS Premium
₹249
Renews automatically
₹1699₹1999
Opt for auto renewal and save Rs. 300 Renews automatically
₹1999
What you get on BS Premium?
-
Unlock 30+ premium stories daily hand-picked by our editors, across devices on browser and app.
-
Pick your 5 favourite companies, get a daily email with all news updates on them.
Full access to our intuitive epaper - clip, save, share articles from any device; newspaper archives from 2006.
Preferential invites to Business Standard events.
Curated newsletters on markets, personal finance, policy & politics, start-ups, technology, and more.
Need More Information - write to us at assist@bsmail.in