Dear Dietician: Dairy

Dear Dietitian,

I recently read an article that said we should eat whole-fat dairy products like whole milk and yogurt. We've always heard that we should choose low-fat or fat-free dairy products. What gives?

Signed,

Laura

Dear Laura,

You're right; for years dietitians and physicians have warned against consuming full-fat dairy products. Skim milk and low-fat yogurt, right? Well, maybe not. In a recent study of 3,000 people age 65 or older, Otto et al. found no link between dairy fat and all-cause death, including mortality from heart disease and stroke. Furthermore, people who had the highest level of dairy fat had a 42 percent less risk of dying from a stroke. This study was published in The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition.

Before you get the cheese grater out, a study by T.H. Chan from Harvard found that replacing dairy fat with PUFA (poly-unsaturated fatty acid) brought a 24 percent decrease in the risk of heart disease and a 10 percent lower risk when replaced with vegetable fat. When dairy was replaced with a different animal fat, the risk of heart disease rose by 6 percent. Finally, replacing dairy fat with whole grains, like whole wheat bread or bran cereal, brought a whopping 28 percent lower risk of heart disease. This study was also published in The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition.

What is one to make of all these numbers? The studies on dairy fat and heart disease and stroke have produced inconsistent results. More studies need to be performed before we can hammer out a firm answer. My advice is to err on the side of caution. Stick with low-fat, low- sugar dairy products, and maybe treat yourself to a full-fat dairy once a week. After all, we all want our ticker to keep on ticking.

Sincerely,

Dear Dietitian