Full-fat dairy products could slash the risk of premature death, says study
High cholesterol is a major risk factor for longevity-threatening health problems, ranging from heart disease to stroke.
For this reason, foods that contain high levels of saturated fat have long been vilified due to their associations with increased cholesterol levels.
To lower your levels of the fatty substance, the advice has been to cut down on whole-fat dairy products like cheese, whole milk, cream and yoghurt.
However, a new surprising study, published in the European Heart Journal, suggests these foods could form a part of a healthy diet.
What’s more, they could contribute to a lower risk of premature death.
Contrary to popular belief, the research team explained that full-fat dairy products may hold protective effects against cardiovascular disease.
Rather than focusing on low-fat foods, the researchers recommended focusing on eating more nuts, fish and dairy.
The findings are based on a study of almost 150,000 people across the world tracked for an average of almost ten years.
Those who regularly ate whole-fat dairy were 30 percent less likely to develop cardiovascular disease or suffer premature death.
According to the researchers, the optimum healthy diet, dubbed PURE, consists of three to four weekly servings of legumes, seven of nuts, two of fish and 14 of full-fat dairy.
However, butter or whipped cream didn’t make the dairy list.
Furthermore, the diet also included two to three servings of fruit and vegetables a day.
Interestingly, unprocessed red meat and whole grains had little impact on the study outcomes.
Lead author Dr Andrew Mente, of McMaster University, Hamilton, Canada, said: “Low-fat foods have taken centre stage with the public, food industry and policymakers, with nutrition labels focused on reducing fat and saturated fat.
“Our findings suggest that the priority should be increasing protective foods such as nuts, often avoided as too energy dense, fish and dairy, rather than restricting dairy especially whole-fat, to very low amounts.
“Our…
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