July 13, 2007
A daily helping of dairy foods protects against the clustering of abnormal body chemistry known as the metabolic syndrome, according to a study in the Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health.
The syndrome has been linked to an increased risk of diabetes, coronary artery disease, and premature death.
The findings are based on a representative sample of 2375 men aged between 45 and 59, all of whom were part of a long term study on health, known as the Caerphilly Prospective Study.
Two or more factors out of high blood glucose, insulin, blood fats, body fat, and blood pressure defined the presence of the metabolic syndrome in the men studied.
The mens health was tracked over 20 years, during which time data from food questionnaires and weekly food diaries were used to assess how much milk and dairy foods the men consumed.
Around one in seven men (15%) had metabolic syndrome at entry into the study.
These men had almost double the risk of coronary artery heart disease and four times the risk of diabetes of those without the syndrome, the researchers said. They were also almost 50% more likely to die early.
But those who regularly drank milk and ate dairy products, such as yogurt and cheese, were significantly less likely to have the syndrome.
They were 62 percent less likely to have it if they drank a pint or more of milk every day, and 56 percent less likely to have it if they regularly ate other dairy produce. And the more dairy produce the men consumed, the less likely were they to have the syndrome.
