Never lower your milk standards again.
A global study has revealed that full-fat milk could actually help to avoid the risk of heart disease, in comparison to its lower fat counterparts.
The multinational cohort study – which used results of 136,384 individuals aged 35–70 in 21 countries and five continents – suggests that up to three servings per day of whole-fat milk can reduce the risk of cardiovascular disease, as opposed to lower levels of consumption.
People who consumed three portions of full-fat milk, butter, cheese or yoghurt were a quarter less likely to succumb to an early death, compared with those who ate less than half a serving a day.
In fact, the report's results showed that those who consumed whole-fat dairy products were a quarter less likely to suffer serious heart disease and less than half as likely to suffer a stroke.
This is apparently due to the fact that "they are a source of saturated fats and presumed to adversely affect blood lipids and increase cardiovascular disease and mortality."
The study ran for fifteen years (between 1 January 2003 - 14 July 2018) and deduced that dairy consumption was associated with lower risk of mortality and major cardiovascular disease events in a diverse multinational cohort.
Cardiovascular disease is the leading cause of mortality in people worldwide.
These results do not go in line with most dietary advice, which urges people to cut down on fatty foods, particularly red meat and dairy products.
“For years public health authorities, government guidelines and cardiac societies including the American Heart Association and the British Heart Foundation have demonised full-fat dairy," NHS Consultant Cardiologist Dr Aseem Malhotra said of the study.
“Last year, myself and two eminent international cardiologists found no link whatsoever with its consumption and the development of heart disease in healthy people, nor its restriction benefiting heart attack patients.
“The evidence is now overwhelming.
"It’s time Public Health England and the British Heart Foundation change their guidance immediately and issue a full public apology that for decades they got it wrong because the science linking saturated fat and heart disease was fatally flawed.”
