Need milk? Maybe not…

The Dietary Guidelines for Americans 2015-20 promote low-fat or fat-free dairy products, including milk, as part of a healthy eating pattern. The Guidelines also suggest that most Americans would benefit from increasing their milk intake, partly because milk may strengthen bones. In the absence of randomized controlled trials showing the effect of milk on important health conditions, Professor Schooling and colleagues compared the risk of several major diseases by genetically predicted milk consumption. People genetically more inclined to drink milk did not have stronger bones or a lower risk of type 2 diabetes or a lower risk of ischemic heart disease, but they were fatter and had higher levels of insulin.

In summary, Professor Schooling says, “It looks like milk does little for your bones but makes you fat. Dietary recommendations should be based on high quality evidence. Dietary recommendations that do not mention milk, such as those from the World Health Organization may be most appropriate particularly in populations where milk is not traditionally part of the diet”.

Yang Q, Lin SL, Au Yeung SL, Kwok MK, Xu L, Leung GM, Schooling CM, Genetically predicted milk consumption and bone health, ischemic heart disease and type 2 diabetes: a Mendelian randomization study. Eur J Clin Nutr. 2017 Feb 22.