Drinking milk can protect against heart problems

0

According to a new study, regular consumption of milk is not associated with elevated cholesterol levels. The paper looked at three large population-based studies.

It was found that people who regularly drank large amounts of milk had lower levels of both good and bad cholesterol, although their BMI was higher than those , who do not drink milk.

Further analysis of other large studies also found that regular milk drinkers had a 14% lower risk of coronary heart disease.

Research team took a genetic approach to milk consumption by studying a change in the lactase gene involved in digesting the milk sugar known as lactose.

The study found that having a genetic variation in which people can digest lactose was a good way to detect people who consume more milk.

Vimal Karani, professor of nutrigenetics and nutrigenomics at the University of Reading, says: “We found that among participants with the genetic variation we associated with higher milk consumption, there was more high BMI, body fat, but importantly lower levels of good and bad cholesterol. But they had a significantly lower risk of coronary heart disease. All this suggests that reducing milk consumption may not be necessary to prevent cardiovascular disease.