A new study of cheese and its effects on the heart suggested that consuming cheese and other dairy products – such as milk and yogurt – doesn't elevate the risk of heart attacks or strokes.
The study's findings go against other research that concluded that dairy products can be harmful because of their high saturated fat content, reported The Guardian.
To complete the study, researchers from the University of Reading in England, Copenhagen University in Denmark, and Wageningen University in the Netherlands examined 29 studies involving 938,465 participants from around the world over the past 35 years. The study's details were published in the European Journal of Epidemiology.
Nutrition scientist Jing Guo at the Hugh Sinclair Unit of Human Nutrition and the Institute for Food, Nutrition and Health IFNH at the University of Reading, said the study gives evidence to rethink the effectives of dairy in a diet.
"This latest analysis provides further evidence that a diet that is high in dairy foods is not necessarily damaging to health," said Guo. "The number of participants in particular gives us a really clear global picture of the neutral association of dairy on heart disease risk, and some indications about the potentially beneficial effect of fermented dairy on heart health, although further studies are needed to confirm this."
Julie Lovegrove, head of the Hugh Sinclair Unit of Human Nutrition, said the study supports other findings that dairy can be part of a healthy, balanced diet.
"We will now be investigating the possible ways that dairy foods may impact on health."
Public Health England, though, told The Guardian that it will continue to urge consumers to be aware of the amount of saturated fats they take in and to maintain low-fat diets.
"Dairy products form an important part of a healthy balanced diet; however, many are high in saturated fat and salt," a spokesman told The Guardian. "We're all consuming too much of both, increasing our risk of heart disease."
"We recommend choosing lower-fat varieties of milk and dairy products or eating smaller amounts to reduce saturated fat and salt in the diet."
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