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Study shows no dairy food connection to heart disease

A British study shows there is no connection between dairy foods and heart disease.  A University of Reading team studied almost a million people and 93-thousand deaths.  They concluded dairy-rich diets are not necessarily bad for human health.

Dr. Gregory Miller researches dairy fats and their role in nutrition for the National Dairy Council and agrees with the findings.  “This group of eminent scientists said consumption of dairy foods provides numerous health benefits including lower risk of diabetes, metabolic syndrome, cardiovascular disease, and obesity.”

Miller says studies show milk fat in dairy products is neutral or positive in terms of reducing disease, and blood pressure and stroke studies back that up.  “We’re beginning to see the tide turn in terms of how people think about fat, saturated fat, and milk fat and really beginning to focus on what are some of the more important issues in nutrition around diet quality, getting adequate nutrition over time, and a healthy lifestyle.”

The University of Reading study looked at participants from different backgrounds around the world.  Miller says the report was based on observational studies, and not clinical trials, so the findings don’t have any cause-and-effect details.  The findings are published in the European Journal of Epidemiology.

Dr. Gregory Miller discusses the study with Brownfield’s Larry Lee