Dairy consumption and risk of cardiovascular disease: an updated meta-analysis of prospective cohort studies.
BACKGROUND
Epidemiological studies to-date provided inconsistent findings on the effects of dairy consumption on the risk of cardiovascular disease (CVD). We aimed to examine the association of dairy consumption and its specific subtypes with CVD risk, including the risk of stroke and coronary heart disease (CHD) by a metaanalysis.


METHODS
PubMed, EMBASE, and Cochrane Library databases were searched for articles published up to February 2014 to identify prospective cohort studies. Random-effects model or fix-effects model was used to compute the summary risk estimates.


RESULTS
A total of 22 studies were eligible for analysis. An inverse association was found between dairy consumption and overall risk of CVD [9 studies; relative risk (RR)=0.88, 95% confidence interval (CI): 0.81, 0.96] and stroke (12 studies; RR=0.87, 95% CI: 0.77, 0.99). However, no association was established between dairy consumption and CHD risk (12 studies; RR=0.94, 95% CI: 0.82, 1.07). Stroke risk was significantly reduced by consumption of low-fat dairy (6 studies; RR=0.93, 95% CI: 0.88, 0.99) and cheese (4 studies; RR=0.91, 95% CI: 0.84, 0.98), and CHD risk was significantly lowered by cheese consumption (7 studies; RR=0.84, 95% CI: 0.71, 1.00). Restricting studies according to various inclusion criteria yielded similar results for CVD and CHD analyses, but showed attenuated results for stroke analysis. Heterogeneity across studies was found for stroke and CHD analyses, and publication bias was found for stroke analysis.


CONCLUSIONS
This meta-analysis provided further evidence supporting the beneficial effect of dairy consumption on CVD. Low-fat dairy products and cheese may protect against stroke or CHD incidence.
Department of Nutrition and Food Hygiene, School of Public Health, Soochow University, Suzhou, China.
Li-Qiang
LQ
Qin
Key Laboratory of Radiation Biology, School of Radiological Medicine and Protection, Soochow University, Suzhou, China.
Jia-Ying
JY
Xu
Department of Nutrition and Food Hygiene, School of Public Health, Soochow University, Suzhou, China.
Shu-Fen
SF
Han
Department of Labour Hygiene and Environmental Health, School of Public Health, Soochow University, Suzhou, China.
Zeng-Li
ZL
Zhang
Nestlé Research Centre Beijing, Building 5, No. 5 Dijin Road, Haidian District, Beijing, 100095, China.
You-You
YY
Zhao
Nestlé Research Centre Beijing, Building 5, No. 5 Dijin Road, Haidian District, Beijing, 100095, China. Email: ignatius.szeto@rd.nestle.com.
Ignatius My
IM
Szeto
D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D002318:Cardiovascular Diseases / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000517:prevention & control; D002611:Cheese; D002681:China / Q000453:epidemiology; D003327:Coronary Disease / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000517:prevention & control; D003611:Dairy Products; D004032:Diet; D004041:Dietary Fats / Q000008:administration & dosage; D005260:Female; D006293:Health Promotion; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D012307:Risk Factors; D020521:Stroke / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000517:prevention & control
D004041:Dietary Fats