2023-08-19 15:41:00
Gene variant identified
19 August 2023 17:41 Robert Klatt
Milk reduces risk of heart disease )kcotS ebodAyturrehc_analtevs(Photo: ©
People who regularly drink plenty of milk have lower cholesterol and a lower risk of heart disease than people who don’t drink milk.
London (England). Studies over the past few decades have provided conflicting results on the link between higher dairy consumption and cardiometabolic diseases such as obesity and diabetes. Researchers at University College London (UCL) have therefore created a comprehensive meta-analysis which, according to their publication in the International Journal of Obesity Includes health data from around 1.9 million people.
To avoid bias, the researchers led by Vimal Karani used a genetic approach to milk consumption, which looks at a variation in a gene linked to milk sugar (lactose) digestion.
Milk consumption lowers cholesterol levels
Meta-analysis shows that people who regularly drink a lot of milk have lower cholesterol levels. This applies to both HDL (high density lipoprotein) cholesterol, which is also known as good cholesterol, and LDL (low density lipoprotein) cholesterol, which is known as bad cholesterol. On average, the body mass index (BMI) was higher and the risk of coronary heart disease lower (14%) compared to people who did not drink milk.
Gene variant in milk consumers
According to Vimal Karani, thanks to the study’s genetic approach, the researchers were also able to discover a gene variant that enables lactose digestion, which is more common in people with high milk consumption.
“We found that participants with a genetic variation that we associated with higher milk consumption had higher BMI and more body fat, but more importantly, they had lower levels of good and bad cholesterol. We also found that those with this genetic variation had a significantly lower risk of coronary artery disease. All of this suggests that reducing dairy consumption may not be necessary to prevent cardiovascular disease.”
The results of the meta-study thus contradict the data from the UK Biobank, according to which higher milk consumption increases the risk of diabetes. In fact, people with the identified lactase gene variation are less likely to develop type 2 diabetes (11%).
“The study clearly shows that milk consumption does not pose a significant risk for cardiovascular disease, although there was a small increase in BMI and body fat in milk drinkers. However, what we find in the study is that it remains unclear whether the fat content in dairy products contributes to the lower cholesterol levels or whether there is an unknown ‘dairy factor’.”
International Journal of Obesity, doi: 10.1038/s41366-021-00841-2
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