There is a hidden health threat that lurks in milk around the world, a new study has suggested. Drinking milk, even the skimmed variety increases the risk of heart attack. Scientists from Uppsala University in Sweden say lactose in milk triggers inflammation and cell damage, which ages your heart faster and puts extra strain on it.
However, the research says the risk only appears to affect women. Men do not have the same effect since they are able to digest the sugar better. How was the study conducted? According to experts, at least 101,000 people were involved in the study, published in the journal BMC Medicine.
Of these nearly 60,000 were women and around 40,000 were men. Scientists made the participants fill out a questionnaire about their lifestyle and diet was followed up 33 years later. Specifically, those who consumed the equivalent of a large latte in milk daily for the entirety of the study were at a 5 per cent higher risk of coronary heart diseases – including heart failure, heart attacks, and stroke.
The study also found that the more milk women drank, the more their heart was at risk. Women who drank 600 ml of milk daily spiked their risk by 12 per cent and by 21 per cent when they drank 800ml. Researchers said the findings were similar for whole, medium-fat, and low-fat milk.
“A healthy diet is essential for the prevention of cardiovascular diseases. Our analysis supports an association between milk intake higher than 300 ml per day and higher rates of ische.
