Dairy Consumption, Blood Pressure, and Risk of Hypertension: An Evidence-Based Review of Recent Literature

Abstract

Hypertension is a major risk factor for development of stroke, coronary heart disease, heart failure, and end-stage renal disease. In a systematic review of the evidence published from 2004 to 2009, the 2010 Dietary Guidelines Advisory Committee (DGAC) concluded there was moderate evidence of an inverse relationship between the intake of milk and milk products (dairy) and blood pressure. This review synthesizes results from studies published over the past year on the relationship between dairy intake, blood pressure, and hypertension risk. The influence of dairy micronutrients including calcium, vitamin D, potassium, and phosphorous on blood pressure and incident hypertension is examined. Emerging research on bioactive dairy peptides is also reviewed. Lastly, recent evidence on effects of dairy fat content on blood pressure and hypertension risk, and the impact of inclusion of low-fat dairy in dietary patterns is also investigated.

Dairy Food Intake Is Inversely Associated with Risk of Hypertension: The Singapore Chinese Health Study

“…Another mechanism in which dairy products may reduce blood pressure is through milk proteins (4). Bioactive lactotripeptides are hypothesized to lower blood pressure by inhibition of angiotensin-converting enzyme and opioid-like activities (4,27). A reciprocal relation between dairy intake and healthier dietary pattern has been shown in our study as well as in other studies (6,7,10) and suggests that the association between dairy intake and risk of hypertension could be confounded by generally healthier lifestyle and eating habits.…”

“…Milk is a good dietary source for potassium, magnesium (25), phosphorus (4), and vitamin D (26), all of which have been proposed to have possible blood pressure-lowering potential …”

“…Dairy products are rich sources of micronutrients, such as calcium, phosphorus, potassium, and vitamins, as well as essential amino acids and proteins of high biological value. It is hypothesized that these macro-and micronutrients may individually or in combination have an antihypertensive impact (4). However, the DASH diet contains 2-3 servings of low-fat dairy (3) and does not provide information about the benefit of lower doses of intake.…”

“…Calcium has been repeatedly proposed as the reason for the potential benefits of dairy intake in reducing blood pressure and the risk of hypertension (4,13,14). However, its independent association was hard to assess in epidemiological studies in high-dairy intake populations because dairy products are the major source of calcium in these populations; thus it is difficult, if not impossible, to eliminate a residual confounding effect of dairy food on the calcium-hypertension risk association.…”

Intake of milk, but not total dairy, yogurt, or cheese, is negatively associated with the clustering of cardiometabolic risk factors in adolescents

“…It has been proposed that the intake of dairy products protects against cardiometabolic risk or several of its risk factors [1], [7] and [8]. Evidence, mostly in adults, has indicated that increased dairy intake may decrease the risk of high blood pressure (BP) [8] and [9], central obesity [10] and [11], and hyperinsulinemia [12]. It has been established that such dairy components as calcium, medium-chain fatty acids, and bioactive peptides may play an important role in the prevention of cardiometabolic risk and its complications via the exertion of mechanisms that include the satiety response and the regulation of insulinemia levels and BP [13].…”