Will long-term and large-scale intake of whole milk cause cardiovascular disease? Chinese scientists have new discoveries

In traditional concepts, large amounts of milk fat are one of the important risk factors for obesity and cardiovascular disease. However, in a recent study, Wang Jiaqi's team from the Institute of Food and Nutrition Development of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs found that milk fat does not increase weight or cause diseases such as hyperlipidemia.

In the study, researchers fed the experimental mice 15 ml of whole milk or 0.5 ml of milk fat every day for 7 weeks, which is equivalent to a human consuming more than 2 kg of whole milk or more than 100 grams of milk fat every day for 5 years. The results showed that long-term high-dose consumption of whole milk or milk fat did not significantly increase the weight and blood lipid burden of mice, regardless of the normal diet group or the high-fat diet group. The study was recently published in the famous microbiology journal "iMeta".

Long-term intake of whole milk or milk fat does not significantly increase the weight and blood lipid burden of mice. Photo provided by the interviewee With the high incidence of obesity and cardiovascular diseases around the world, concerns about whole milk have become more serious. How should these people drink milk? Whole milk or skim milk? To this end, researchers selected a mouse with a clear genetic background and stable gene sequence. This type of mouse is a commonly used model for studying diabetes, obesity, and atherosclerosis. After 7 weeks of high-dose feeding, the results showed that long-term high-dose consumption of whole milk or milk fat did not significantly increase the weight and blood lipid burden of mice, whether in the normal diet group or the high-fat diet group. On the contrary, the study also found that long-term high-dose consumption of whole milk or milk fat, whether in normal diet mice or high-fat diet mice, significantly increased the level of high-density lipoprotein cholesterol in the blood of mice, and high-density lipoprotein cholesterol can reduce the risk of atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease. "That is to say, long-term and large-scale consumption of whole milk not only does not significantly increase body weight and blood lipid burden, but is beneficial to reducing the risk of atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease." Wang Jiaqi said, "This finding can be said to be an answer to the controversy over whole milk. Through targeted and specially designed experiments, we have proved that whole milk has no direct relationship with obesity and high blood lipids."

Source: Beijing News