Does Dairy Food Intake Predict Arterial Stiffness and Blood Pressure in Men?

Abstract

Hypertension (DASH) trial, which revealed that a diet high in fruit and vegetables and low-fat dairy products (3 servings per day) was associated with lower systolic (SBP; 11-12 mm Hg) and diastolic blood pressure (DBP; 6-7 mm Hg). A recent systematic review by Ralston et al 7 summarized the evidence from 5 cohort studies investigating relationships between consumption of milk and dairy products and SBP/DBP or hypertension and concluded that consumption of these foods is likely to benefit blood pressure regulation.More recent evidence suggests that milk and dairy product intake may affect more markers of CVD than blood pressure alone, notably arterial stiffness. Gradual stiffening of the arterial system develops with age and can be influenced by chronic dietary and lifestyle exposures. 9 Aortic pulse wave velocity (aPWV) and augmentation index (AIx) are becoming recognized Abstract-Arterial stiffness is an independent predictor of cardiovascular disease events and mortality, and like blood pressure, may be influenced by dairy food intake. Few studies have investigated the effects of consumption of these foods on prospective measures of arterial stiffness. The present analysis aimed to investigate the prospective relationship between milk, cheese, cream, and butter consumption and aortic pulse wave velocity, augmentation index, systolic and diastolic blood pressure, as well as cross-sectional relationships between these foods and systolic and diastolic blood pressure and metabolic markers using data from the Caerphilly Prospective Study. Included in this cohort were 2512 men, aged 45 to 59 years, who were followed up at 5-year intervals for a mean of 22.8 years (number followup 787). Augmentation index was 1.8% lower in subjects in the highest quartiles of dairy product intake compared with the lowest (P trend=0.021), whereas in the highest group of milk consumption systolic blood pressure was 10.4 mm Hg lower (P trend=0.033) than in nonmilk consumers after a 22.8-year follow-up. Cross-sectional analyses indicated that across increasing quartiles of butter intake, insulin (P trend=0.011), triacylglycerol (P trend=0.023), total cholesterol (P trend=0.002), and diastolic blood pressure (P trend=0.027) were higher. Across increasing groups of milk intake and quartiles of dairy product intake, glucose (P trend=0.032) and triglyceride concentrations (P trend=0.031) were lower, respectively. The present results confirm that consumption of milk predicts prospective blood pressure, whereas dairy product consumption, excluding butter, is not detrimental to arterial stiffness and metabolic markers. Further research is needed to better understand the mechanisms that underpin these relationships. 10 making it an independent predictor of CVD events and all-cause mortality. 11-13Limited research has been conducted into the dietary determinants of arterial stiffness, although a recent meta-analysis called for more research into the role of fermented milk products. 9Evidence from a cross-sectional study suggests that dairy prod...

Dairy food products: good or bad for cardiometabolic disease?

“…Pulse wave velocity measures the speed of propagation of the pressure wave front along the artery, whereas the augmentation index is calculated from the blood pressure wave form and is based on the degree of wave reflection. Significant associations between dairy product intake and arterial pulse wave velocity have been shown in cross-sectional (136) and longitudinal (126) cohort studies. Livingstone et al (126) presented data from the Caerphilly Prospective Study, based on 2512 men followed up for a mean of 28 years and showed a significant inverse relationship between dairy product intake and augmentation index.…”

“…In addition, the magnitude of blood pressure reduction was of greater magnitude after the diet rich in low-fat dairy products compared with the fruit and vegetable-rich diet, which omitted dairy products altogether (119) . The findings from cross-sectional and prospective observational studies have shown an inverse association between consumption of dairy products, particularly low-fat varieties, and risk of hypertension (64,65,(120)(121)(122)(123)(124)(125)(126) . The recent results from the Framingham Heart Study Offspring Cohort (n 2636) also showed benefit from low/reduced fat dairy products (127) .…”

“…Livingstone et al (126) presented data from the Caerphilly Prospective Study, based on 2512 men followed up for a mean of 28 years and showed a significant inverse relationship between dairy product intake and augmentation index. The subjects in the highest quartile of dairy product intake (mean 480 g/d), excluding butter, had a 2 % (P = 0·02) lower augmentation index compared with subjects with the lowest dairy product intake (mean 154 g/d), whereas across increasing quartiles of butter intake there were significantly higher insulin, TAG and total cholesterol concentrations, and DBP (126) . The mechanisms by which milk and dairy products may reduce blood pressure and arterial stiffness are unclear.…”

Should animal fats be back on the table? A critical review of the human health effects of animal fat

“…Third, the East Finland cohort was located in Karelia (Keys et al 1958), then an isolated and icebound region for most of the year while the West Finland cohort was centred near Turku and included a substantial proportion of Swedes (Karvonen et al 1970). During winter the rations were reduced to milk and other dairy products, bread, and potatoes with small amounts of other foodstuffs (Roine et al 1958), hardly well balanced but hardly a death sentence, given the benefits of dairy product consumption for CVD and the metabolic syndrome (Evans et al 1995;Elwood et al 2010;Livingstone et al 2013). Indeed, there was little difference between East and West Finland in their diets, apart from a small increase in diversity in the West, and reduced vitamin C, vitamin E, and iodine in the East.…”

Feasibility of a clinical trial to assess the effect of dietary calciumv.supplemental calcium on vascular and bone markers in healthy postmenopausal women

“…An increase in cfPWV by 1 m/s corresponds to an adjusted risk increase of 14, 15 and 15 % in total cardiovascular events, cardiovascular mortality and all-cause mortality, respectively (66) . Using this gold standard measure, dairy food intake has been shown to have a favourable effect on arterial stiffness, as well as overall cardiovascular profile and reduced mortality (68)(69)(70)(71) . However, the evidence regarding the effect of Ca in the form of supplements on arterial stiffness is less consistent.…”