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Abstract
This review considers within the epidemiology of dairy fats and cardiovascular risk including the effects of 1. Fats within different dairy foods, 2. Specific dairy fatty acids including ruminant trans fats (TFA), conjugated linoleic acid (CLA), myristic acid and 3. The influence of metabolic syndrome.
Key teaching points:
• Population studies show strong associations between dairy fat, but less consistently between dairy food, and coronary heart disease (CHD).
• Consumption of cheese may not increase CHD risk and the association with milk is uncertain.
• Of dairy foods, butter raises low density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C) most consistently, probably through its myristic and palmitic acid content.
• Cheese appears not to raise LDL-C and yoghurt inconsistently.
• Ruminant TFA may have effects on LDL-C similar to that of industrial TFA but the amounts eaten are probably too small to be of concern.
• The major ruminant CLA does not lower LDL-C.
• Dairy food consumption may modify favourably the metabolic syndrome.
Key teaching points:
• Population studies show strong associations between dairy fat, but less consistently between dairy food, and coronary heart disease (CHD).
• Consumption of cheese may not increase CHD risk and the association with milk is uncertain.
• Of dairy foods, butter raises low density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C) most consistently, probably through its myristic and palmitic acid content.
• Cheese appears not to raise LDL-C and yoghurt inconsistently.
• Ruminant TFA may have effects on LDL-C similar to that of industrial TFA but the amounts eaten are probably too small to be of concern.
• The major ruminant CLA does not lower LDL-C.
• Dairy food consumption may modify favourably the metabolic syndrome.