Non-fat food items are better options according to health experts; however, this isn't always the case according to a new study. Supporting studies suggest that full-fat is healthier than its low-fat version.
Time reports that a new study published in the journal Circulation has found evidence that full-fat dairy can actually reduce the risk for diabetes and can aid in weight loss. This calls into question the widely-accepted belief that low-fat milk, or skimmed milk, is good for the heart and weight-friendly. The new study has found no evidence to back up these claims.
Low-Fat Milk vs. Full-fat Milk
Researchers, led by Dr. Dariush Mozaffarian, analyzed blood results of 3,333 adults who participated in the Nurse's Health Study of health Professionals Follow-up Study, which spanned for 15 years. Researchers based their data from the biomarkers of full-fat dairy consumption. The results show that those who take full-fat dairy had 46 percent lower risk of diabetes, compared to those who were taking skim milk, low-fat yogurt, and low-fat cheese products.
CBS News reports another study that appears to support the health benefits of full-fat milk. The study published in the American Journal of Nutrition suggests that consuming full-fat dairy products will give you lower chances of becoming obese. The study analyzed 18,438 middle-aged women, who participated in Women's Health Study. Data showed that the full-fat dairy consumers had 8 percent lower chances of becoming obese, compared to those who ate less.
The case against the full-fat dairy products.
The U.S. Dietary Guidelines has set recommendations to keep saturated fat consumption less than 10 percent of calories per day. For decades, doctors have advised against taking in full-fat dairy products for cardiovascular health and weight control. However, there are lacking evidence to support these claims.
"I think these findings together with those from other studies do call for a change in the policy of recommending only low-fat dairy products," Mozaffarian said. "There is no prospective human evidence that people who eat low-fat dairy do better than people who eat whole-fat dairy."
Experts believe that eating a full-dairy product will give you enough calories, keeping you from craving other sugar-packed food. There's also another assumption that full-fat dairy work directly on cells, limiting the need to further breakdown glucose from food.
Lastly, they were also thinking that high-fat fermented products like cheese, improve glucose sensitivity resulting in lowering diabetes risk. Researchers are yet to determine the component in dairy milk that lowers the risk for diabetes.
Will you go for real ice cream over yogurt now? Let us know what you think by leaving your comments below. Check out other low-fat diet myths in the video below: