WASHINGTON: People who drank low-fat milk and ate low-fat yogurt and cheese had a lower risk of stroke compared to those who consumed full-fat dairy foods, according to a Swedish study published in the American Heart Association's journal Stroke.
Nearly 75,000 participants 45 to 83 years old were free of heart disease, stroke and cancer at the start of the study. All completed a 96-item food and beverage questionnaire to determine dietary habits.
Food and drink consumption frequency was divided into eight categories, ranging from never to four servings per day, reported China's Xinhua news agency.
During the 10-year follow-up, 4,089 strokes occurred (1,680 in women and 2,409 in men): 3,159 ischemic, 583 hemorrhagic and 347 unspecified strokes.
Those who ate low-fat dairy foods had a 12 percent lower risk of stroke and a 13 percent lower risk of ischemic stroke than those who ate high-fat dairy foods.
The benefits of low-fat dairy foods are likely due to the vitamins and minerals they contain: calcium, potassium, magnesium and vitamin D, the researchers said.
"It is possible that vitamin D in low-fat dairy foods may explain, in part, the observed lowered risk of stroke in this study because of its potential effect on blood pressure," said Susanna Larsson, the study's first author and associate professor at the Karolinska Institute in Stockholm.Northern Europeans and North Americans traditionally consume much more dairy foods than other global populations.
So switching to low-fat dairy products could impact stroke risk for millions of people, Larsson said.
- Bernama
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