Despite the growth of the low-fats industry, a diet high in dairy fats seems to be protective, as several new studies have found. But digging further into the data, researchers from the University of Haifa in Israel have concluded the diet almost doubles the risk of cardiovascular disease (CVD) and diabetes for women – and yet protects men.
They took another look at 29 previously-published studies and found, as others had, an inverse relationship between high dairy diets and heart disease. In other words, the more dairy fats you ate, the less likely your risk of developing CVD or type 2 diabetes, thus confounding the fats-heart disease theory.
But digging deeper into the data, they found the risk was still there for women, and it was a ‘significant’ risk above 80 per cent for both conditions.
They don’t know why the risk should be different between men and women. It could be the way the two sexes process dairy fat, but it could also be down to other dietary or lifestyle factors that may be having an impact.
(Source: Nutritional Review, 2019; 77: 417-29)
What do you think? Start a conversation over on the... WDDTY Community
