Low-fat Dairy Foods Slash Stroke Risk

Consuming dairy foods that are low in fat may reduce one's risk of developing stroke, claims a new study. In a Swedish study, among 74,961 adults 45 to 83 years old, those who ate low-fat dairy foods had a 12 percent lower risk of stroke and a 13 percent lower risk of ischemic stroke than those who ate high-fat dairy foods.

Participants were free of heart disease, stroke and cancer at the start of the study. All completed a 96-item food and beverage questionnaire to determine dietary habits.

Food and drink consumption frequency was divided into eight categories, ranging from never to four servings per day.

During the 10-year follow-up, 4,089 strokes occurred (1,680 in women and 2,409 in men): 3,159 ischemic, 583 hemorrhagic and 347 unspecified strokes.

"This is the largest study to date to examine the association between consumption of total, low-fat, full-fat and specific dairy foods and the risk of stroke in adult men and women," Susanna Larsson, the study's first author from the Karolinska Institute in Stockholm, Sweden, said.

"From a public health perspective, if people consume more low-fat dairy foods rather than high-fat dairy foods, they will benefit from a reduced risk of stroke and other positive health outcomes," Larsson said.

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The benefits of low-fat dairy foods are likely due to the vitamins and minerals they contain: calcium, potassium, magnesium and vitamin D.

"It is possible that vitamin D in low-fat dairy foods may explain, in part, the observed lowered risk of stroke in this study because of its potential effect on blood pressure," she said.

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The study has been published in the American Heart Association's journal Stroke.

Source-ANI