Study: Overweight Adults Should Increase Consumption of Dairy Products

Adults who are overweight can help lower a number of risk factors associated with heart disease by increasing their consumption of dairy products, according to Harvard Medical School researchers.

The Coronary Artery Risk Development in Young Adults (CARDIA) study showed that daily consumption of dairy products by overweight adults can increase protection against insulin resistance syndrome, reducing their risk of type 2 diabetes, hypertension and cardiovascular disease.

Significantly, the same effect was not seen in leaner people.

The participants included in the CARDIA study were 3,157 black and white adults, ranging in age from 18 to 30 years, who were studied over a 10-year period.

Dairy products considered in the study included any item that was 100 percent dairy, such as milk, or had dairy as a primary ingredient.

The incidence of insulin resistance syndrome was lower by more than two thirds in overweight people with the highest consumption of dairy products compared to those in the lowest, the researchers reported in the Journal of the American Medical Association.

"Changing dietary patterns may play an important role in the epidemics of obesity and type 2 diabetes, as well as the plateauing or increase in heart disease rates in the United States in recent years," concluded the researchers. "Trends in dietary intake behaviors over the past few decades have revealed decreasing intake of dairy products, especially milk, and increasing amounts of soda consumption and snacking among children and adolescents."

"In summary, our study suggests that dietary patterns characterized by increased dairy consumption may protect overweight individuals from the development of obesity and the IRS, which are key risk factors for type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular disease," wrote the researchers.

Other sources: Journal of the American Medical Association