To Dairy or Not to Dairy – That is the Question

So, are dairy foods good for you or bad for you? Is no fat or low-fat better for you than whole fat dairy products?

These questions are enough to drive you to drink Oak Milk!

Let’s take a look at some answers to these questions from Amy Goodson who wrote the book Swim, Bike, Run, Eat.

First of all, there are many studies that have been done over decades showing that many people who eat dairy have a lower rate of chronic diseases, including cardiovascular diseases and type 2 diabetes. Also, eating dairy doesn’t increase the risk of cancer.

To get to these results the researchers looked at 16 studies on dairy intake. Most of the studies actually showed an anti-inflammatory effect from drinking milk.

According to another study with the Framingham Offspring group, yogurt may have an even stronger anti-inflammatory effect! The researchers think it may be due to the bacteria in yogurt.

So, what about full-fat dairy having a reputation for causing a build-up of plaque in the arteries and causing a heart attack or stroke? How about these results from a study done over i6-years that had more than 4,000 60-year-olds enrolled in the study. The researchers found that those with the highest blood levels of fatty acids from eating full-fat dairy products actually had the lowest risk of cardiovascular disease.

Another study published in 2021 in PLOS Medicine looked at 18 studies on dairy fat and cardiovascular disease and also found that the participants with a higher level of fat consumption also had lower levels of heart disease.

One of the researchers pointed out that full-fat daily foods also have many other beneficial nutrients such as over 400 fatty acids, which are the building blocks of fat.

The researchers also found the membrane of fat globules are very bioactive and reduce inflammation including inflammation in the brain which may help stop memory loss and dementia. All I can say is we, including me, tend to forget that there’s other good stuff in dairy!

So…raise a glass on high of the fatty stuff and enjoy!

(Reported Bottom Line Health, May 2023)

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