Dairy Consumption and Cardiometabolic Diseases: Systematic Review and Updated Meta-Analyses of Prospective Cohort Studies

PURPOSE OF REVIEW: Dairy products contain both beneficial and harmful nutrients in relation to cardiometabolic diseases. Here, we provide the latest scientific evidence regarding the relationship between dairy products and cardiometabolic diseases by reviewing the literature and updating meta-analyses of observational studies. RECENT FINDINGS: We updated our previous meta-analyses of cohort studies on type 2 diabetes, coronary heart disease (CHD), and stroke with nine studies and confirmed previous results. Total dairy and low-fat dairy (per 200 g/d) were inversely associated with a 3–4% lower risk of diabetes. Yogurt was non-linearly inversely associated with diabetes (RR = 0.86, 95% CI: 0.83–0.90 at 80 g/d). Total dairy and milk were not associated with CHD (RR~1.0). An increment of 200 g of daily milk intake was associated with an 8% lower risk of stroke. SUMMARY: The latest scientific evidence confirmed neutral or beneficial associations between dairy products and risk of cardiometabolic diseases. ELECTRONIC SUPPLEMENTARY MATERIAL: The online version of this article (10.1007/s13668-018-0253-y) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.