For a healthy heart drinking a pint of milk a day can improve your hearts healthiness.
This really is good news for all of us and especially for my family, and myself as I have always loved dairy products and have never skimped on them.
I have only ever eaten and used butter mainly because there are generally no additives apart from salt, where as in many margarine or butter substitutes I do not actually know some of the listed additives and also the fact that I have never managed to find one that I liked the taste of.
For quite a while now dairy products have been labelled as bad for our health, but new studies by researchers show and claim the complete opposite. They say that dairy products actually help to protect our bodies against a wide variety of serious health conditions including heart disease, type 2 diabetes and strokes.
The study found that by having a regular consumption of dairy products, and this does not matter whether it is cheese, yoghurts or any type of milk, actually halves the chances of developing metabolic syndrome, which in the UK affects up to a quarter of the population.
Metabolic syndrome is also known as and called insulin resistance, which affects the body’s metabolism by increasing cholesterol, body fat, blood glucose levels and blood pressure.
People that suffer with this condition have almost double the risk of coronary artery disease and have four times more chance of diabetes than those with out metabolic syndrome. Also more alarming is that these people are fifty per cent more likely to die earlier; a twenty-five year study has shown.
During the past twenty-five years milk consumption has plummeted, thought to be about concerns of the effect of the high saturated fat content may have on the heart and general health.
Growing evidence suggests this is false, as reviews worldwide on dairy products and vascular disease, show there are benefits also includes rates of heart disease and strokes.
The evidence has shown that there is a very powerful effect that totally goes against today’s public perception that milk and dairy products are bad for your heart.
There has been over 300 publications from this study and they all point in the same direction, and the evidence shows that the effect is the same for both men and women.
On the study it was found that those who ate and drank dairy products regularly were far less likely to have the syndrome than those who drank and ate little or none.
By drinking a pint of milk a day they were also 62 per cent less likely to have the syndrome, and if they ate other dairy foods regularly 56 per cent less likely.
Researchers have also found that milk is more effective than anything else including water and expensive special formula sports drinks, for replacing fluid and salts that are lost through sweat.
So after any type of exertion such as sports, keep fit and manual labour, a glass of milk is the best for re-hydration. Tests show that milk keeps the body re-hydrated for at least four times longer than water or powerade – Cola’s sports drink.
Milk is naturally rich in potassium, sodium and other vital salts that the body loses in vast quantities through sweating.
The combination of the protein, sugar and fat found in milk is the reason that it is removed much slower from the body than other drinks.
Milk really is an excellent drink and is so versatile, I know many people do not actually like milk but you can always make it into custard, rice pudding or semolina etc: to get your daily intake.
Our youngest daughter was always against drinking a glass of milk, and still is today, but she actually consumes more milk than the rest of the family.
She absolutely adores cereals, eating up to four bowls a day and of course this is with milk, summer or winter. She also loves chocolate milk shake and fruit smoothies with a blob of ice cream, but the smoothies are often left for me to prepare, as she does not like clearing up the blender afterwards – teenagers!
It is a shame that schools do not give out the daily milk drink that as a youngster was a great part of the school day. I believe if this was still the case in primary schools, more children would be happy to drink milk and less likely to go for the fizzy drinks that are available.
I hope you find this interesting, and now not so worried about eating dairy products. Think of all the great sauces you can make to enhance your culinary skills and know they are actually good for you. My favourite has always been cheese sauce, but I am equally partial to white sauce with fish or over broad beans.
Cheese on toast is a staple part of our daughter’s diet, so much so that cheese is one of the first things that runs out in our kitchen, and now they laugh and say they can eat even more now! Pity they do not know where Sainsbury’s is.
Remember to eat good food for good health