Abstract
BackgroundDairy products consumption is increasingly common globally. Most of the evidence concerning dairy products comes from observational studies in western populations which are inevitably open to confounding. To triangulate the evidence concerning dairy products, we examined the associations of whole cow's milk consumption with cardiovascular risk factors in a non-Western setting with a different pattern of milk consumption and cardiovascular diseases from Western populations.MethodsWe used multivariable censored linear or logistic regression to examine cross-sectionally the adjusted associations of whole cow's milk consumption (none (n = 14892), 1–3/week (n = 2689) and 3+/week (n = 2754)) with cardiovascular risk factors in Chinese (≥50 years) in the Guangzhou Biobank Cohort Study.ResultsWhole cow's milk consumption was negatively associated with systolic blood pressure (3+/week compared to none −2.56 mmHg, 95% confidence interval (CI) −3.63 to −1.49), diastolic blood pressure (−1.32 mmHg, 95% CI −1.87 to −0.77) and triglycerides (−0.06 mmol/L, 95% CI −0.11 to −0.002), but was positively associated with HDL-cholesterol (0.02 mmol/L,95% CI 0.01 to 0.04) and fasting glucose (0.08 mmol/L, 95% CI 0.01 to 0.16) adjusted for age, sex, phase of study, socio-economic position, lifestyle (smoking, alcohol use and physical activity) and adiposity, but had no obvious association with LDL-cholesterol or the presence of diabetes.ConclusionsWhole cow's milk consumption had heterogeneous associations with cardiovascular risk factors. Higher whole cow's milk consumption was associated with lower levels of specific cardiovascular risk factors which might suggest risk factor specific biological pathways with different relations to blood pressure and lipids than glucose.
Highlights
Cardiovascular disease (CVD) is the leading cause of death worldwide[1]
When studies were restricted to whole milk, prospective cohort studies show no association or whole milk positively associated with CVD and diabetes[3,4,5,6]._ENREF_5 _ENREF_6_ENREF_9Inevitably with observational studies of a socially and culturally patterned behavior it is uncertain whether these associations are due to the biological properties of cow’s milk or to other attributes of cow’s milk drinkers, because in western settings higher socio-economic position (SEP) is usually associated with higher consumption of low-fat milk and cheese, lower consumption of full fat milk[7,8,9]_ENREF_6 and lower morbidity and mortality from many chronic diseases including CVD and diabetes[10]
Of the original 20,335 participants in phase 1 (10,407) and phase 2 (9,928) of Guangzhou Biobank Cohort Study (GBCS), less than 120 had missing information on any CVD risk factor, so we used all available observations for each outcome
Summary
Cardiovascular disease (CVD) is the leading cause of death worldwide[1]. According to the World Health Organization, by 2030, almost 24 million people will die from CVD, mainly from heart disease and stroke[1]. When studies were restricted to whole milk, prospective cohort studies show no association or whole milk positively associated with CVD and diabetes[3,4,5,6]._ENREF_5 _ENREF_6_ENREF_9Inevitably with observational studies of a socially and culturally patterned behavior it is uncertain whether these associations are due to the biological properties of cow’s milk or to other attributes of cow’s milk drinkers, because in western settings higher socio-economic position (SEP) is usually associated with higher consumption of low-fat milk and cheese, lower consumption of full fat milk[7,8,9]_ENREF_6 and lower morbidity and mortality from many chronic diseases including CVD and diabetes[10]. To triangulate the evidence concerning dairy products, we examined the associations of whole cow’s milk consumption with cardiovascular risk factors in a non-Western setting with a different pattern of milk consumption and cardiovascular diseases from Western populations
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