Does Milk Consumption Contribute to Cardiometabolic Health and Overall Diet Quality?
Although milk consumption is recommended in most dietary guidelines around the world, its contribution to overall diet quality remains a matter of debate in the scientific community as well as in the public domain. This article summarizes the discussion among experts in the field on the place of milk in a balanced healthy diet. The evidence to date suggests at least a neutral effect of milk intake on health outcomes. The possibility that milk intake is simply a marker of diets higher in nutritional quality cannot be ruled out. This review also identifies a number of key research gaps pertaining to the impact of milk consumption on health. These need to be addressed to better inform future dietary guidelines.
Institute of Nutrition and Functional Foods, School of Nutrition, Laval University, Québec City, Québec, Canada. Electronic address: benoit.lamarche@fsaa.ulaval.ca.
Benoît
B
Lamarche
Food Production and Quality Division, Faculty of Life Sciences, University of Reading, Reading, United Kingdom.
D Ian
DI
Givens
Division of Human Nutrition, Wageningen University, Wageningen, The Netherlands.
Sabita
S
Soedamah-Muthu
Children's Hospital Oakland Research Institute, Oakland, CA, USA.
Ronald M
RM
Krauss
Department of Epidemiology, School of Public Health, Aarhus University, Copenhagen, Denmark.
Marianne Uhre
MU
Jakobsen
Department of Geriatrics and Aging Research, University of Zurich and University Hospital Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland.
Heike A
HA
Bischoff-Ferrari
Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, School of Public Health, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, China.
An
A
Pan
Centre de recherche de l'Institut universitaire de cardiologie et de pneumologie de Québec, and Department of Kinesiology, Faculty of Medicine, Université Laval, Québec City, Québec, Canada.
Jean-Pierre
JP
Després
D000818:Animals; D001794:Blood Pressure; D002318:Cardiovascular Diseases; D008078:Cholesterol, LDL / Q000097:blood; D003924:Diabetes Mellitus, Type 2; D004327:Drinking Behavior; D050723:Fractures, Bone; D006801:Humans; D008892:Milk; D053580:Muscle Strength
D008078:Cholesterol, LDL