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Dairy Products and Cardiovascular Health
Dairy products have long been the subject of debate in nutrition, particularly because of their saturated fat content and their potential role in the development of cardiovascular disease (CVD). While dietary guidelines generally encourage limiting saturated fat intake, more recent scientific evidence suggests that its health effects may depend more on the food source and the context in which it is consumed than on total quantity alone.
This article reviews the current evidence on the relationships among dairy products, saturated fat, and cardiovascular health.
Dairy Products, Saturated Fat, and Dietary Guidelines
Most dietary guidelines worldwide, including the Canadian guidelines and the most recent U.S. Dietary Guidelines for Americans, recommend limiting saturated fat intake to less than 10% of total energy intake in order to reduce the risk of cardiovascular disease. These recommendations are based in part on robust evidence from human experimental studies showing that replacing saturated fats with unsaturated fats leads to reductions in LDL cholesterol, a major etiological risk factor for CVD.
Saturated fats are found in a wide range of foods of both animal and plant origin. In Western diets, their primary sources include ultra-processed foods (such as industrial baked goods, fried foods, ready-to-eat meals, and processed snacks or sweets containing palm oil), meat, and full-fat dairy products. In Canada and the United States, however, full-fat dairy products account for only about one quarter of total saturated fat intake, with the majority coming from ultra-processed foods and red meat.
Epidemiological and Clinical Evidence
Full-fat dairy products include whole milk, cream, ice cream, yogurt, cheese, butter, kefir, and other milk-derived products. In a large prospective cohort study involving 407,531 participants followed for 24 years and documenting nearly 190,000 deaths, a diet high in animal-derived fats —including those from dairy products— was associated with an increased risk of all-cause and cardiovascular mortality.
It is important to note, however, that observational studies cannot establish causality. When the totality of randomized controlled trials is considered, the findings instead suggest that consumption of full-fat dairy products has modest effects on cardiovascular and metabolic health, primarily reflected by a slight increase in LDL cholesterol. These results should nevertheless be interpreted with caution. Most available clinical studies were of short duration, focused primarily on young, healthy Caucasian men, and were not specifically designed to assess long-term cardiometabolic risk. As a result, some studies may not have been long enough or sufficiently powered to detect clinically meaningful changes.
Author
Kathryn holds a Bachelor Degree in Nutrition as well as a Bachelor and a Master Degree in Kinesiology, all from Laval University. She is a Registered Dietitian and active member of the Ordre professionnel des Diététistes Nutritionnistes du Québec (ODNQ) and of the American Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics. She holds the Monash University's certification for the FODMAP diet and IBS, and has considerable clinical experience in that area. She is also an accomplished athlete, having ran track and cross-country at a national level. Kathryn specializes in sports nutrition, weight loss, diabetes, as well as heart and gastrointestinal health.
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