A pint a day keeps Metabolic Syndrome away

Men who regularly consume milk, cheese and yoghurt may be less likely to develop a cluster of risk factors for diabetes and heart disease, a study suggests.

Researchers found that among nearly 2400 middle-aged British men, those who drank at least a pint of milk a day were 62 per cent less likely than men who rarely drank milk to have metabolic syndrome. A similar pattern emerged when the researchers looked at overall intake of milk, cheese and yoghurt.

Metabolic syndrome refers to a group of risk factors for heart disease and type 2 diabetes. The components include high blood pressure, elevated blood sugar levels, abdominal obesity, high blood levels of triglycerides (a type of fat) and low blood levels of "good" cholesterol.

The new findings point to an association between dairy foods and the odds of having metabolic syndrome, but do not confirm that consumption of these foods prevent the syndrome. However, other research had tied regular milk drinking to lower blood pressure, which might help explain its connection to metabolic syndrome, said lead study author Dr Peter C. Elwood.

Some other evidence, he added, linked dairy foods to better weight control. Another larger clinical trial found that dairy foods significantly protected against the development of the metabolic syndrome.

All of this suggests that at the least dairy products "fit well" into a healthy diet, Elwood and his colleagues at Cardiff University in the UK report in the Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health.

The study involved 2375 men ages 45 to 59 who completed detailed questionnaires on their diets at the beginning of the study. Over the next 20 years, their rates of diabetes, heart disease and stroke were tracked. In general, Elwood’s team found, men who reported the highest dairy intakes had a significantly lower risk of having metabolic syndrome at the study’s start. The 15 per cent of men who did have metabolic syndrome were 79 per cent more likely to develop heart disease over the next 20 years.

They also had a four-fold increase in the risk of diabetes and were 46 per cent more likely to die over the two decades. However, when the researchers looked for a direct link between dairy intake at the outset and future risk of diabetes, they found none.

NZ Herald, Thursday Jul 19