Recently researchers led by Uppsala University studied how drinking non-fermented and fermented milk products may have impacts on heart disease in around 100,000 men and women, using two multi-decade cohorts that followed participant BMI, heart health, diets, and lifestyles.
Statistics show that heart disease is one of the major causes of death in America, being responsible for over 700,000 deaths in 2022. Heart disease may be more prevalent in men, but women die at higher rates from heart disease than men. There are a number of risk factors that can contribute to heart disease such as genetics, smoking, alcohol consumption, lifestyle, and diet.
Investigating the cardiovascular impact of milk
The paper describes how through using various tracking metrics and self-reported food/beverage intake women who drank 300 mL or more of non-fermented (regular) milk were found to have an association with a higher risk of ischemic heart disease (coronary heart disease) and heart attack (myocardial infarction).
Their findings published in BMC Medicine revealed that while regular non-fermented milk showed negative associations with heart disease in women, fermented milk products, such as sour milk and yogurt, didn’t show a negative association.
Some of the participants also provided plasma samples to be used for analyzing the proteomic patterns of 276 protein biomarkers to see how they were associated with myocardial infarction and ischemic heart disease compared to milk consumption.
Risk of heart disease
Blood plasma analysis found no correlation between fermented milk consumption and an increase in heart disease for men or women. However, when comparing the amount of non-fermented milk consumed an increase for both myocardial infarction and ischemic heart disease was found among women who drank higher amounts of regular milk, but no increase was found in men.
The analysis revealed that women who drank 100 mL of non-fermented milk each day had lower rates of the diseases compared to those who drank over 300 mL a day. Moreover, drinking 4 glasses of regular non-fermented milk each day was associated with a 21% increased risk of developing ischemic heart disease compared to drinking half a glass per day. Even after adjusting for various factors, the results were consistent at all milk fat percentages.
Additionally, women who drank higher amounts of regular non-fermented milk were found to have higher levels of angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE-2) and lower levels of fibroblast growth factor 21 (FGF21) which are both markers associated with the risk of ischemic heart disease. Those with elevated levels of ACE-2 have shown elevated cardiovascular mortality rates, and elevated FGF21 levels may be associated with heart disease.
Why the increase in women?
The association of an increased risk in women who drink regular non-fermented milk and developing heart disease may be due to sex-specific differences in the metabolism of milk which could potentially cause differences in inflammation and oxidative stress that could lead to an increased risk of developing heart disease.
Possible fermented milk benefits?
Furthermore, fermented milk could also offer inflammation-fighting, heart-protective benefits due to the presence of bacteria that influence the composition of the gut microbiome. Many studies have found microbiome composition can help with decreasing the risk of diabetes, blood pressure, and heart disease.
Although the researchers noted that more research is needed, fermented milk products such as sour cream, yogurt, kefir, cottage cheese, miso, and koumiss appear to be safe for both men and women.
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References/Sources/Materials provided by:
https://bmcmedicine.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s12916-024-03651-1
https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/fastats/leading-causes-of-death.htm
https://www.nature.com/articles/s41374-022-00830-7
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/gene/59272
https://worldhealth.net/news/gut-health-foundation-overall-wellness/
