People who enjoy drinking milk may reduce their risk of heart disease and stroke. Those who consume milk at above-average levels are less likely to experience obesity, hypertension, and metabolic syndrome compared to those who drink little or no milk.
Professor Peter Elwood, from Cardiff University in the UK, presented a report based on a survey published in the European Journal of Clinical Nutrition. The findings concluded that individuals who consume higher-than-average amounts of milk have a 15% reduced risk of heart disease and stroke compared to those who consume little or no milk.
This conclusion is drawn from a study involving 400,000 participants followed for 8 to 28 years. Interestingly, most of the milk consumed by the participants was regular milk.
Previously, milk was often criticized for being “bad” due to the belief that the fat content raised cholesterol levels. However, the studies mentioned have identified significant benefits of milk: in addition to its role in protecting bone health, milk also helps lower blood pressure and positively affects other biological mechanisms related to cardiovascular diseases.
These benefits appear to outweigh the potential cholesterol-raising effects, contributing to an overall reduction in cardiovascular disease risk associated with milk consumption.
Therefore, milk should be reinstated as an important component of the diet for patients with heart conditions.
