Dairy Foods: Current Evidence of their Effects on Bone, Cardiometabolic, Cognitive, and Digestive Health

Abstract

Dairy foods have long been considered nutrient-dense and health-promoting products that offer many health benefits to their consumers. This review is an overview of the health benefits associated with them, drawing from recent research conducted on the associations of dairy food components with bone, cardiometabolic, cognitive, and digestive health in cross-sectional and intervention studies. Each section details the associations of dairy with a certain aspect of health and focuses on the benefits milk product consumption may have on the prevention and management of chronic health conditions such as osteoporosis, the metabolic syndrome, and dementia. Dairy food components, as well as the potential biological mechanisms responsible for their effects on health, are also addressed. Although several of the biological mechanisms warrant further research, current evidence suggests that dairy consumption confers some beneficial effects to bone, cardiometabolic, cognitive, and digestive health. Due to its nutrient profile and the current evidence of its benefits, at least 1 daily serving of a dairy item is recommended by the dietary guidelines of several countries. Yet, even in the United States, many individuals do not consume the recommended 3 cups of dairy foods a day. Therefore, this review concludes with a description of the current public health impact of dairy food research as well as recommendations for the food industry to formulate dairy foods that are both palatable and health-promoting for consumers.

Menaquinones, Bacteria, and Foods: Vitamin K2 in the Diet

“…All these elements are involved in bone metabolism. Currently, researchers are trying to identify and understand the mechanisms and interactions of these factors in relation to bone health [56].…”

“…Most studies that have investigated the relationship between dairy and bone health have shown a beneficial effect of dairy consumption, even if the reason for this link is still unclear [56,57]. After many years of focusing on calcium as the beneficial element for bone health in dairy, recent evidence suggests that other macro-and micronutrients, as well as food components such as bioactive peptides, milk fat globule membrane, prebiotics, and probiotics present in milk and dairy products, play an important role in this health outcome [56].…”

“…After many years of focusing on calcium as the beneficial element for bone health in dairy, recent evidence suggests that other macro-and micronutrients, as well as food components such as bioactive peptides, milk fat globule membrane, prebiotics, and probiotics present in milk and dairy products, play an important role in this health outcome [56]. Many of these nutrients support the bioavailability (phosphorus, vitamin D, magnesium, zinc, potassium), absorption (casein phosphopeptides, phosphorus, lactose, protein) and homeostasis (magnesium, potassium, vitamin D) of calcium and contribute to bone-building properties (phosphorus, magnesium, potassium, zinc, vitamin D, vitamin B12, and vitamin K) [56][57][58].…”

“…Among the high number of different fatty acids in dairy products, trans-palmitoleic acid, stearic acid, lauric acid, myristic acid, and oleic acid have been associated with beneficial effects on blood lipids and serum lipoprotein levels [56]. These assumptions are supported by the inverse association observed between CHD risk and the consumption of milk, cheese, and meat as the richest sources of MKs in the Western diet [6,67].…”

Maternal dairy fat diet does not influence neurotrophin levels and cognitive performance in the rat offspring at adult age

“…Reports also indicate that lard affects the function of the hippocampus (Niculescu and Lupu, 2009). In contrast a recent review reports the association of dietary dairy product cheese, yogurt consumption in humans with beneficial effects on cognition (Hess et al, 2016). Studies examining the role of dairy consumption with respect to cognitive health have mainly focused on disorders like Alzheimer's (Camfield et al, 2011; Kesse‐Guyot et al, 2015).…”