Dairy Foods Actually Good for You After All?

You remember the ad. It asked if you’ve “got milk?” and said that “milk does a body good.”

So, does it? New research suggests it might.

In the study, people who consumed more dairy fat actually had a lower risk of cardiovascular disease than those who drank or ate less dairy, CNN reported.

“Increasing evidence suggests that the health impact of dairy foods may be more dependent on the type — such as cheese, yogurt, milk and butter — rather than the fat content, which has raised doubts if avoidance of dairy fats overall is beneficial for cardiovascular health,” said lead author Kathy Trieu, a researcher from the George Institute for Global Health in Sydney, Australia.

“Our study suggests that cutting down on dairy fat or avoiding dairy altogether might not be the best choice for heart health,” Trieu told CNN.

To study the issue, her team looked to Sweden, measuring the blood levels of a fatty acid mostly found in dairy food. The country is known to be among the world’s highest consumers and producers of dairy products.

The investigators continued to follow just over 4,000 participants, whose blood was analyzed for an average of 16 years.

Read more at usnews.com