Skip to main content

Healthy Diet Including Whole-Fat Dairy Linked to Lower Mortality

Medically reviewed by Drugs.com.

By Elana Gotkine HealthDay Reporter

THURSDAY, July 13, 2023 -- A healthy diet, including whole-fat dairy, is associated with lower risk of mortality and cardiovascular disease (CVD), according to a study published online July 6 in the European Heart Journal.

Andrew Mente, Ph.D., from Hamilton Health Sciences and McMaster University in Canada, and colleagues developed a healthy diet score in 147,642 people from the general population from 21 countries (the PURE study) and examined the consistency of the association in five independent studies from 70 countries. The healthy diet score was developed based on six foods that have all been associated with significantly lower mortality risk (fruit, vegetables, nuts, legumes, fish, and dairy [mainly whole-fat]). All-cause mortality and major cardiovascular events were the main outcome measures.

The researchers found that in PURE, a diet score of ≥5 points was associated with a lower risk of mortality, CVD, myocardial infarction, and stroke compared with a diet score of ≤1 during a median follow-up of 9.3 years (hazard ratios, 0.70, 0.82, 0.86, and 0.81, respectively). Similar results were found in three independent studies in vascular patients, with a higher diet score linked to significantly lower mortality, CVD, and myocardial infarction (hazard ratios, 0.73, 0.79, and 0.87, respectively), while the risk for stroke was nonsignificantly lower. A higher diet score was associated with lower first myocardial infarction and stroke in two case-control studies (odds ratios, 0.72 and 0.57, respectively).

"The new results in PURE, in combination with prior reports, call for a re-evaluation of unrelenting guidelines to avoid whole-fat dairy products," writes the author of an accompanying editorial.

The PURE Study was partially funded by several pharmaceutical companies.

Abstract/Full Text

Editorial

Disclaimer: Statistical data in medical articles provide general trends and do not pertain to individuals. Individual factors can vary greatly. Always seek personalized medical advice for individual healthcare decisions.

© 2024 HealthDay. All rights reserved.

Read this next

342 Cardiology Clinics Acquired by Private Equity Firms in 2013 to 2023

WEDNESDAY, July 3, 2024 -- From 2013 to 2023, 342 cardiology clinics were acquired by private equity firms, with 94.7 percent of the acquisitions occurring between 2021 and 2023...

Overall Burden of CVD Remained High in United Kingdom in 2000 to 2019

THURSDAY, June 27, 2024 -- The overall burden of cardiovascular disease (CVD) remained high during 2000 to 2019 in the United Kingdom, according to a study published online June...

hs-cTnT Linked to MACE, Mortality in Rheumatoid Arthritis

THURSDAY, June 27, 2024 -- For patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA), a detectable level of high-sensitivity cardiac troponin T (hs-cTnT) is associated with increased risk of...

More news resources

Subscribe to our newsletter

Whatever your topic of interest, subscribe to our newsletters to get the best of Drugs.com in your inbox.