TABLE 2.
Prospective observational and experimental evidence for associations between intake of full-fat dairy foods and cardiometabolic risk factors1
| Study (reference) | Study design | Dairy types (or intervention) | Results |
|---|---|---|---|
| Dyslipidemia | |||
| Mitri et al., 2017 (63) | Meta-analysis of RCTs | Total dairy (4 of 9 studies used high-fat dairy) | Dairy intake ≥3 servings/d associated with a small increase in LDL cholesterol; no effect on HDL cholesterol or TGs compared with low intake |
| Benatar et al., 2013 (64) | Meta-analysis of RCTs | High-fat dairy (full-fat milk, cheese, butter, cream, and ice cream) | No impact on LDL- or HDL-cholesterol concentrations |
| Drouin-Chartier et al., 2016 (24) | Systematic review of RCTs | Total dairy | No effect of increasing total dairy intake on LDL- and HDL-cholesterol or TG concentrations |
| Engel et al., 2018 (65) | Randomized crossover trial | 0.5 L/d full-fat milk (3.5% fat) vs skimmed milk (0.1% fat) | HDL-cholesterol concentrations increased with full-fat milk intervention; no difference between total and LDL-cholesterol, TG, insulin, or glucose concentrations |
| Chiu et al., 2016 (66) | Randomized crossover trial | Full-fat dairy DASH diet, low-fat dairy DASH diet, control | Decreased plasma TGs and VLDL-cholesterol concentrations and increased LDL peak particle diameter compared with low-fat DASH; no increases in LDL or non–HDL cholesterol compared with control diet |
| Brassard et al., 2017 (67) | Meta-analysis of RCTs | Yogurt | Fermented yogurt products produced a 4% decrease in total cholesterol and 5% decrease in LDL cholesterol |
| de Goede et al., 2015 (68) | Meta-analysis of RCTs | Cheese and butter | Cheese intake reduced LDL cholesterol (−0.22 mmol/L; 95% CI: −0.29, −0.14) and HDL cholesterol (−0.05; 95% CI: −0.09, −0.02) and had no effect on TGs compared with butter intake |
| Blood pressure | |||
| Benatar et al., 2013 (64) | Meta-analysis of RCTs | Total and full-fat dairy | No effect of total or full-fat dairy intake on systolic or diastolic blood pressure |
| Drouin-Chartier et al., 2016 (24) | Review of RCTs | Total dairy | Mixed results with studies showing a favorable or null effect |
| Alonso et al., 2009 (69) | Randomized crossover trial | Full-fat and low-fat dairy | No difference in blood pressure after 8 wk of consuming full-fat or low-fat dairy as part of an ad libitum diet (P > 0.6) |
| Chiu et al., 2016 (66) | Randomized crossover trial | Full-fat dairy DASH diet, low-fat dairy DASH diet, control | Full-fat and low-fat dairy reduced blood pressure to a similar extent relative to the control diet |
| Schwingshackl et al., 2017 (70) | Dose-response meta-analysis of prospective studies | Total dairy, full-fat dairy | Inverse association between an increase in total dairy of 200 g/d and risk of HTN (RR: 0.95; 95% CI: 0.94, 0.97); no difference between low- and full-fat dairy foods |
| Soedamah-Muthu et al., 2012 (71) | Meta-analysis of prospective studies | Full-fat dairy | Pooled RR (95% CI) of HTN per 200 g/d full-fat dairy: 0.99 (0.95, 1.03) |
| Glucose metabolism | |||
| Benatar et al., 2013 (64) | Meta-analysis of RCTs | Total and full-fat dairy | Nonsignificant improvement in insulin sensitivity (HOMA-IR: −0.94; 95% CI: −1.93, 0.04) with a high dairy diet, consistent with stratification by dairy fat content |
| Drouin-Chartier et al., 2016 (24) | Review of RCTs | Total dairy | Inconsistent results from short-term trials; favorable changes in glucose and insulin homeostasis with prolonged exposure to dairy |
| Morio et al., 2016 (43) | Review of observational and intervention studies | Full-fat dairy | No effect of full-fat dairy intake on insulin sensitivity |
| Obesity | |||
| Benatar et al., 2013 (64) | Meta-analysis of RCTs | Full-fat dairy | Modest increase in weight with increases in both low-fat (0.82 kg; 95% CI: 0.35, 1.28) and full-fat dairy intake (0.41; 95% CI: 0.04, 0.79); no change in waist circumference with either intervention |
| Schwingshackl et al., 2016 (72) | Meta-analysis of prospective observational studies | Full-fat dairy | Significant reduction in adiposity with higher consumption of full-fat dairy foods |
| Santiago et al., 2016 (73) | Prospective observational analysis of the PREDIMED study | Whole-milk yogurt | Increased probability of abdominal obesity reversion and average 0.23-cm decrease in waist circumference in the highest vs lowest quintile of intake |
| Kratz et al., 2013 (32) | Systematic review of observational studies | Full-fat dairy | Inverse association between full-fat dairy intake and measures of adiposity over time |
1
DASH, Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension; HTN, hypertension; PREDIMED, Prevention with Mediterranean Diet; RCT, randomized controlled trial; TG, triglyceride.