A new scientific paper says that low-fat dairy products have no advantage in relation to cardiovascular disease compared to full-fat dairy products.

The report, authored by nutritional scientists from across the world, appeared in the latest edition of the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition.

It says that milk, yogurt and cheese are “neutrally associated” with cardiovascular disease (CVD), with no difference found between the consumption of full-fat and low-fat products.

This applies to both adults and children, the paper says.

Evidence

“The most recent evidence indicates that overall, consumption of milk, yogurt and cheese, irrespective of fat content, is neutrally associated with CVD (cardiovascular disease) risk,” the report states.

It continues by stating “there is also no evidence yet from randomised controlled trials that consumption of regular-fat milk, yogurt, and cheese has different effects on a broad array of cardiometabolic risk factors when compared with consumption of low-fat milk, yogurt, and cheese.”

Strategies focusing primarily on reduction of energy-dense, nutrient-poor foods, the main source of saturated fatty acids in western diets, rather than on the fat content of dairy foods, are more likely to benefit the population’s cardiovascular health, it said.