Is Full Fat Dairy Good For You?

The second study, published in the European Journal of Nutrition, is a meta-analysis of 16 observational studies. There has been a hypothesis that high-fat dairy foods contribute to obesity and heart disease risk, but the reviewers concluded that the evidence does not support this hypothesis. In fact, the reviewers found that in most of the studies, high-fat dairy was associated with a lower risk of obesity. “We continue to see more and more data coming out [finding that] consumption of whole-milk dairy products is associated with reduced body fat,”

Is Full Fat Dairy Good For You?

Dr. Mercola shows how whole milk lowers your risk for diabetes, reduces your risk of cancer,  makes you less likely to die from cardiovascular disease, and helps you lose weight!

Most mainstream dietary advice recommends low-fat or non-fat dairy. But a growing number of experts argue that it’s far healthier to eat and drink whole dairy products, with all the fat left in.

Dairy foods contain roughly 50 to 60 percent saturated fat, and conventional thinking is that saturated fat is bad for your heart. This idea has been thoroughly refuted as false. It’s a mistaken interpretation of the science. In a 2010 analysis,1 scientists said:

“…There is no significant evidence for concluding that dietary saturated fat is associated with an increased risk of [coronary heart disease or cardiovascular disease].”

More recently, research presented at the European Association for the Study of Diabetes (EASD) in Vienna, Austria, found that eating full-fat dairy products such as whole milk, cream, cheese, and butter, reduces your risk of developing diabetes.

Full-Fat Dairy Associated with Lower Risk of Diabetes

The study included nearly 27,000 people between the ages of 45-74 who were followed for 14 years.

As reported in The Telegraph,2 those who ate eight portions of full-fat dairy products a day cut their risk of diabetes by nearly 25 percent, compared to those who ate fewer portions. One serving counted as:

  • 200 milliliters (ml) of milk or yogurt
  • 20 grams (g) of cheese
  • 25 grams of cream
  • 7 grams of butter

Also, consuming 30 ml of cream or 180 ml of high-fat yoghurt daily reduced the risk of diabetes by 15 percent and 20 percent respectively, compared to those who ate none. According to lead author Dr. Ulrika Ericson of the Lund University Diabetes Center in Malmö, Sweden:3

“Our observations may contribute to clarifying previous findings regarding dietary fats and their food sources in relation to type 2 diabetes. 

The decreased risk at high intakes of high-fat dairy products, but not of low-fat dairy products, indicate that dairy fat, at least partly, explains observed protective associations between dairy intake and type 2 diabetes…

Our findings suggest, that in contrast to animal fats in general, fats specific to dairy products may have a role in prevention of type 2 diabetes.”

In 2010, a study published in the Annals of Internal Medicine4 proposed that it’s the palmitoleic acid, which occurs naturally in full-fat dairy products, that protects against insulin resistance and diabetes.
People who consumed full-fat dairy had higher levels of trans-palmitoleate in their blood, and this translated to a two-thirds lower risk of developing type 2 diabetes compared to people with lower levels.

Other Research Showing Full-Fat Dairy Is Good for You

As I’ll discuss below, I firmly believe that pasteurized dairy products are best avoided. Unfortunately, research on raw dairy—which is always full-fat—are few and far between, so I’m going to refer to studies using pasteurized dairy for the sake of showing that the full-fat versions are the better choice.

Besides lowering your risk for diabetes, previous studies have also shown that consuming full-fat dairy may help reduce your risk of:

  • Cancer: Conjugated linoleic acid (CLA), a type of fat found naturally in cow’s milk, significantly lowers the risk of cancer. In one study,5 those who ate at least four servings of high-fat dairy foods each day had a 41 percent lower risk of bowel cancer than those who ate less than one. Each increment of two servings of dairy products reduced a woman’s colon cancer risk by 13 percent.
  • Weight: Women who ate at least one serving of full-fat dairy a day gained 30 percent less weight over a nine-year period than women who ate only low-fat (or no) dairy products.6
  • Heart Disease: People who ate the most full-fat dairy were less likely to die from cardiovascular disease, according to a 16-year study7 of Australian adults.

More People Starting to Recognize That Butter Is Better

More and more people are starting to realize the fallacy of the low-fat myth. As noted by NPR,  in 1992, 44 percent of household cooks surveyed reported being “concerned about the amount of cholesterol in their food.” Today, that number has dropped down to 27 percent.

Other countries have also switched over from margarine to butter in ever-increasing numbers. According to dairy economist Brian Gould, American butter export has grown from zero to just over 10 percent of the market since the early 2000s.

Other research backs up the suggestion that butter is a health food that offers both short-term and long-term benefits for your health. One study  found that fat levels in your blood are actually lower after eating a meal rich in butter than after eating one rich in olive oil, canola oil, or flaxseed oil.

The scientists’ main explanation is that about 20 percent of butterfat consists of short- and medium-chain fatty acids, which are used right away for quick energy and therefore don’t contribute to fat levels in your blood. Other oils (canola, flax, etc.) contain only long-chain fatty acids, which are more readily stored as fat.

What this means is that a significant portion of the butter you consume is used immediately for energy—similar to a carbohydrate. But, unlike a carbohydrate, it doesn’t adversely affect your insulin and leptin levels.

Article Summary

  • Most mainstream dietary advice recommends low-fat or non-fat dairy. But a growing number of experts argue that it’s far healthier to eat and drink whole, full-fat dairy products
  • Recent research found that those who ate eight portions of full-fat dairy products a day cut their risk of diabetes by nearly 25 percent, compared to those who ate fewer portions
  • A previous study proposed that it’s the palmitoleic acid, which occurs naturally in full-fat dairy products, that protects against insulin resistance and diabetes
  • Previous studies have also shown that consuming full-fat dairy may help reduce your risk of cancer, weight gain, and heart disease
  • Research also backs up the suggestion that butter is a health food. Fat levels in your blood are actually lower after eating a meal rich in butter than after eating one rich in olive oil, canola oil, or flaxseed oil

Click here to read Dr. Mercola’s complete report
article source: http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2014/09/29/full-fat-dairy-products.aspx

photo source: https://www.flickr.com/photos/global2000/8453304700/i
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_jmtaMhaSkY

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