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Do You Avoid Cheese?
"High in sodium and saturated fats."
For ages, people have associated the consumption of cheese with an increased risk for cardiovascular disease (CVD), with "cheese is high in sodium and saturated fats" being the most cited reason. With that, many started reducing or even completely eliminating cheese from their diet. However, it is undeniable that cheese packs a punch of flavour in our food and makes everything look more appetising with its stretch when melted.
All in all, this leads to the question. Is avoiding cheese really necessary?
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Fun Fact!
According to a study conducted in 2019, 11 subjects aged between 62 to 66 were subjected to 4 different diets -- low-sodium, high-sodium, low-sodium with cheese and high-sodium with cheese. Each diet lasted for 8 days and the results obtained reflected that the high-sodium with cheese diet had the same effect as that of a low-sodium diet in the subjects. Drawing from this finding, the group of scientists concluded that sodium from dairy sources may not be as bad for health as many perceived after all!
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You can now hence, go forth and enjoy some cheese in your food, without having to be concerned that it is bad for your vascular health anymore.
Cheese, Is It Really Bad For Your Vascular Health?
Hover here for fun fact!
Unlike popular opinions, cheese is not all bad for vascular health after all. In fact, recent findings have shown that the consumption of cheese may potentially reduce the risk of CVD in healthy older adults (1).
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How Does That Work?
You probably would not have thought of it, but including an appropriate amount of dairy in your diet can actually protect you against diseases. These include endothelial dysfunction and microvascular dysfunction, both of which are a type of non-obstructive coronary artery disease (2), (3).
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DEBUNKED
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Hover here for mechanism!
Mechanism
The inclusion of cheese in one's diet preserves the endothelial function through both an increase in NO bioavailability, as well as dairy proteins, which plays a role in limiting reactive oxygen species (ROS), thus limiting the amount of oxidative stress that the body faces on a whole. At the same time, the consumption of a high cheese diet holds the potential to protect against microvascular dysfunction too. This is done through the reduction of detrimental effects of sodium-induced superoxide radicals, but the specific mechanism in humans have yet to be established. That said, the consumption of sodium in one's diet from dairy sources instead of non-dairy sources could be an effective strategy in reducing cardiovascular disease (CVD) in healthy and older adults.
How much do you know about milk?
Myth: Milk is bad for your vascular health.
Many of us drink milk to build strong bones as it is packed with calcium. But have you ever heard that milk is bad for your vascular health?
If you ever look at the wide array of milk at the supermarket, you might have noticed that milk can be classified based on their fat content. Saturated fat is a major portion of milk fat and may be the last thing we need in our milk. They tend to increase our blood cholesterol level which puts us at a greater risk of cardiovascular diseases (CVDs) (1). This could be why you may have heard of this myth.
Which brings us to this question – Should you stop drinking milk?
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Benefits of Extra-Virgin Olive Oil Consumption
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BRANDING
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STORYTELLING
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DESIGN
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CONSULTING
Polyphenols
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Place your cursor here for more info about the study
The study was done by researchers at The Ohio State University [4]. 23 prediabetic adults (18 to 50 years old) went through 4 rounds of testing. They are 1) glucose only, 2) glucose and non-fat milk, 3) glucose and whey, and 4) glucose and casein. Non-fat milk was provided according to US dietary recommendations. Amounts of whey and casein tested coincides with that found in non-fat milk. They made sure to control the participants diet before testing. Baseline parameters were obtained prior to testing and every 30 minutes after for 3 hours. Parameters obtained during testing were compared against baseline parameters.
Based on their findings, this was the pathway suggested [4]. High blood glucose induces oxidative stress on our blood vessels. This lowers the nitric oxide (NO) available to them. NO is important to allow our blood vessels to dilate. Without enough NO, they become impaired. Milk proteins protect against this damage, possibly by slowing down gastric emptying. This limits the oxidative stress that can be induced through our blood glucose. As a result, more NO is available for proper function of our blood vessels.
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Debunked: Milk is not proven to be bad for your vascular health.
Recent findings show that consuming milk is not linked to poorer cardiovascular health (1), (2), (3). Low-fat and non-fat milk may even protect our blood vessels from damage (4), (5). These suggest that milk may not be bad for our vascular health.
Part of the reason why there are conflicting information around milk is because milk is more than just fats (1). Have you ever read the nutrition label at the side of the milk packaging? If you did, you probably know that milk also contains proteins and other nutrients. They may also change our risk of CVDs (1), (4). Here’s how.
High blood glucose damages our blood vessels by taking away their ability to dilate (4), (5). Impaired blood vessels are a sign of vascular aging. This means we have a higher risk of CVDs. A new study has found that whey and casein protected blood vessels from this damage in prediabetic adults (4). Whey and casein are the main proteins found in milk. This is new evidence to support that milk may reduce our risk of CVDs (4).
What about the healthy people? Since the study is done on prediabetic adults, it raises the possibility that this may also apply to healthy people. We need more studies before we can be certain of this. Though some scientists predict that this protective effect may be lesser (6).
To sum up, it is safe to say that milk is not proven to be bad for our vascular health. Milk is more than just fats and we should not overlook the health benefits it provides.
It is ok to drink milk. So, let’s find the milk that suits us.
Types of milk
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Whole milk – 3.25% fat
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Reduced milk – 2% fat
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Low-fat milk – 1% fat
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Non-fat milk
Why do we need to drink milk?
Here are some common health benefits of drinking milk (7). How many do you know?
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Improves bone health (calcium and phosphorous)
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Muscle growth (milk proteins)
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Source of vitamin B (B2, B3 and B12)
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Source of other nutrients (e.g., vitamin A and D)
What milk is recommended for me?
For the young and healthy adults
Drink the milk you like such that the amount of saturated fats consumed is within the recommended limit of 10% total fat intake (8).
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For those at higher risk of CVDs
According to the dietary recommendations by the Ministry of Health (8), non-fat milk may be the healthier choice as you can enjoy the benefits of milk with minimal fat worries.
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Done by
Cheese: Jeslyn Low
Milk: Ku Chee Onn
Cheese References
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Billie K Alba, Anna E Stanhewicz, Priyankar Dey, Richard S Bruno, W Larry Kenney, Lacy M Alexander. 2019, August 28. Controlled Feeding of an 8-d, High-Dairy Cheese Diet Prevents Sodium-Induced Endothelial Dysfunction in the Cutaneous Microcirculation of Healthy, Older Adults through Reductions in Superoxide. https://doi.org/10.1093/jn/nxz205
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Dierk H. Endemann and Ernesto L. Schiffrin. 2008, August. Endothelial Dysfunction. https://doi.org/10.1097/01.ASN.0000132474.50966.DA
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Hena Patel, Neelum T. Aggarwal, Anupama Rao, Elizabeth Bryant, Rupa M. Sanghani, Mary Byrnes, Dinesh Kalra, Leigh Dairaghi, Lynne Braun, Sherine Gabriel, and Annabelle Santos Volgman. 2020, June 10. Microvascular Disease and Small-Vessel Disease: The Nexus of Multiple Diseases of Women. https://doi.org/10.1089/jwh.2019.7826
Milk References
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Lordan, R., Tsoupras, A., Mitra, B., & Zabetakis, I. (2018). Dairy fats and cardiovascular disease: Do we really need to be concerned? Foods, 7(3), 29. https://doi.org/10.3390/foods7030029
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Guo, J., Astrup, A., Lovegrove, J. A., Gijsbers, L., Givens, D. I., & Soedamah-Muthu, S. S. (2017). Milk and dairy consumption and risk of cardiovascular diseases and all-cause mortality: Dose–response meta-analysis of prospective cohort studies. European Journal of Epidemiology, 32(4), 269–287. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10654-017-0243-1
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Fontecha, J., Calvo, M. V., Juarez, M., Gil, A., & Martínez-Vizcaino, V. (2019). Milk and dairy product consumption and cardiovascular diseases: An overview of systematic reviews and meta-analyses. Advances in Nutrition, 10(suppl_2), S164–S189. https://doi.org/10.1093/advances/nmy099
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McDonald, J. D., Mah, E., Chitchumroonchokchai, C., Dey, P., Labyk, A. N., Villamena, F. A., Volek, J. S., & Bruno, R. S. (2019). Dairy milk proteins attenuate hyperglycemia-induced impairments in vascular endothelial function in adults with prediabetes by limiting increases in glycemia and oxidative stress that reduce nitric oxide bioavailability. The Journal of Nutritional Biochemistry, 63, 165–176. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jnutbio.2018.09.018
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Ballard, K. D., Mah, E., Guo, Y., Pei, R., Volek, J. S., & Bruno, R. S. (2013). Low-fat milk ingestion prevents postprandial hyperglycemia-mediated impairments in vascular endothelial function in obese individuals with metabolic syndrome. The Journal of Nutrition, 143(10), 1602–1610. https://doi.org/10.3945/jn.113.179465
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Leary, M. P., Roy, S. J., Lim, J., Park, W., Ferrari, R., Eaves, J., Machin, D. R., & Tanaka, H. (2018). Nonfat milk attenuates acute hyperglycemia in individuals with android obesity: A randomized control trial. Food Science & Nutrition, 6(8), 2104–2112. https://doi.org/10.1002/fsn3.767
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Ministry of Health. (2021, May 25). 5 Benefits of Drinking Milk. Retrieved from: https://www.healthhub.sg/live-healthy/1495/dear-dairy
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Ministry of Health. (2021, June 22). How to Eat Right to Feel Right. Retrieved from: https://www.healthhub.sg/live-healthy/15/dietary_guidelines_adults
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got milk? (n.d.) Types of milk explained. Retrieved from: https://gonnaneedmilk.com/articles/types-of-milk-explained/