Milk and the metabolic syndrome

Abstract

The metabolic syndrome is a cluster of metabolic disorders, namely dyslipidaemia, hypertension, obesity and glucose intolerance. Insulin resistance is the core phenomenon. Co-occurrence is associated with increased cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk. Observational studies found no increased CVD risk with increasing consumption of milk and other dairy products. In several studies dairy consumption was inversely associated with the occurrence of one or several facets of the metabolic syndrome. Many dairy components may contribute to the beneficial effects. Milk and particularly whey appeared insulinotropic when given in a single meal, but not in longer-term intervention. Medium chain fatty acids improve insulin sensitivity. Whey proteins, amino acids, medium chain fatty acids and in particular calcium and other minerals may contribute to the beneficial effect of dairy products on body weight and body fat. Peptides, calcium and other minerals reduce blood pressure. Fermented products and probiotic bacteria decrease absorption of cholesterol, sphingomyelin of cholesterol and fat, calcium of cholesterol, bile acids and fat. Proteins, peptides and bacteria may also reduce plasma cholesterol. Lactose, citrate, proteins and peptides improve weight control, blood pressure and plasma lipids indirectly, by improving calcium bioavailability. Furthermore, dairy consumption improves the bioavailability of folate and other secondary plant components.

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

“…Moreover, although all types of milk were consumed by adolescents, in our sample, most participants (92.7%) had consumed semiskimmed (84.3%) and skimmed milk (8.4%). In addition, it has been established that milk fat, despite containing saturated fat, has beneficial effects on serum lipids [64] and is not associated with a higher incidence of cardiovascular disease [65] and [66] or cardiometabolic risk factors [43], [66] and [67]. Finally, with the use of self-reported dietary intake data, one cannot rule out some reporting bias.…”

Dairy consumption and circulating levels of inflammatory markers among Iranian women

“…Some investigations have reported the relationship between consumption of vegetable oils (21) , red meat (22) , fruits and vegetables (23,24) and soya (25) with inflammatory biomarkers, but we are aware of no study evaluating the association between dairy consumption and circulating levels of inflammatory markers. On the other hand, recent studies have shown an inverse relationship between dairy consumption and metabolic abnormalities, such as obesity (26)(27)(28) , diabetes (29,30) , metabolic syndrome (31,32) and insulin resistance (33) , but the mechanisms have not been fully understood. Dairy products are a rich source of Ca; a nutrient seems to be responsible for dairy's beneficial effect (34) .…”

Effect of calcium-enriched high-fat diet on calcium, magnesium and zinc retention in mice

“…Although significant urine mineral loss was found in the Ca group, preservation of mineral depots in bone was observed. Our data support the fact that adding more Ca to the diet, using a combination of calcium carbonate plus milk powder containing among other things higher Zn and Mg, contributes to counteracting obesity and improving lipid metabolism.Dietary calcium: Zinc: Magnesium: Obesity Observational and epidemiological data have shown that a low-Ca diet may be a risk factor for obesity development, and beneficial aspects of milk components on metabolic syndrome are gaining strength (1,2) , even though intervention trials have yielded inconsistent results to date (3) .The molecular mechanisms responsible for the impact of dairy products on body weight and fat have been studied in animal models with important contributions from the group of Zemel (4) . Using a transgenic animal model (over-expressing agouti protein under the control of the aP2 promoter), Zemel and co-workers showed that dietary Ca could influence fat deposition by direct modulation on adipocyte metabolism, increasing thermogenesis and lipolysis and decreasing lipogenesis following a high-Ca diet (5,6) .…”

“…Dietary calcium: Zinc: Magnesium: Obesity Observational and epidemiological data have shown that a low-Ca diet may be a risk factor for obesity development, and beneficial aspects of milk components on metabolic syndrome are gaining strength (1,2) , even though intervention trials have yielded inconsistent results to date (3) .…”