We’ve heard it all before: eating too much fatty food is bad for us. But what if some fatty foods, like full-fat dairy, could actually be good for our health?
A team of scientists led by Balaji Bhavadharini from McMaster University recently published a study that suggests dairy, particularly the full-fat kind, could lower our risk of developing diabetes, high blood pressure, and other heart issues.
Dairy Around the World
Most of the previous studies that found dairy to be beneficial for health mainly focused on people living in North America and Europe.
What makes this new study stand out is its diversity; it included people aged 35-70 from 21 different countries. The study tracked the health of nearly 190,000 people for about nine years.
Participants were part of the Prospective Urban Rural Epidemiology (PURE) study, making the research globally inclusive.
The dairy products under consideration included common items like milk, cheese, and yogurt, as well as dishes made with these products.
Butter and cream were left out of the primary assessment, as not everyone in the study’s diverse range of countries usually eats these.
The Good News About Dairy
So, what did the study find? Well, it’s good news for dairy lovers. Eating at least two servings of dairy every day was linked to a 24% lower risk of metabolic syndrome—a bunch of conditions that increase your risk of heart disease and other health problems.
What’s even more surprising is that full-fat dairy had stronger health benefits compared to low-fat.
Eating two servings of full-fat dairy per day reduced the risk of metabolic syndrome by 28% and lowered the risk of high blood pressure and diabetes by 11-12%.
That’s not all. Those who bumped up their daily full-fat dairy to three servings saw an even better outcome, lowering their risks by 13-14%.
A Spoonful of Dairy Helps the Medicine Go Down?
So, what does this mean for all of us? According to the researchers, increasing our intake of dairy—especially full-fat varieties—could be an affordable and easy way to reduce the risk of heart diseases, diabetes, and high blood pressure worldwide.
While more studies are needed to confirm these findings, the evidence is increasingly showing that dairy, often shunned for its fat content, might just deserve a place in our diets for its potential health benefits.
Feeling curious? You might also want to explore other nutritional tips that can help your heart, like why olive oil is praised by health experts, or how leafy green vegetables can keep you in top shape.
The study was published in BMJ Open Diabetes Research & Care, making it a credible source for this exciting health news.
So the next time you reach for that cheese or full-fat yogurt, you might just be doing your heart a favor!
If you care about nutrition, please read studies about the best time to take vitamins to prevent heart disease, and vitamin D supplements strongly reduce cancer death.
For more information about nutrition, please see recent studies about plant nutrient that could help reduce high blood pressure, and these antioxidants could help reduce dementia risk.
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