Effect of skim milk supplementation on blood cholesterol concentration, blood pressure, and triglycerides in a free-living human population.

Abstract

In 82 subjects, aged 21-73, we studied the effect of skim milk supplementation on serum cholesterol concentration, blood pressure, and serum triglyceride level. The study involved a 1-week pretreatment baseline period followed by 8 weeks of milk supplementation. Sixty-four people were designated to a test group and 18 people were placed in a seasonal index group. The study was designed as a free-living trial, i.e., participants were requested to maintain their normal lifestyles, including dietary pattern, except for the supplementation of one quart of 2% solids-not-fat fortified skim milk to the daily diet in the test group. Supplemental milk treatment was associated with a 6.6% reduction (p = 0.0004) of serum cholesterol in the high cholesterol (greater than or equal to 190 mg/dl) test subgroup within the first 4 weeks. No change was noted in serum cholesterol in the low-cholesterol (less than 190 mg/dl) subgroup throughout the study. Body weight and seasonal variation of blood cholesterol did not significantly influence serum cholesterol levels. Reduction (p = 0.0140) in percentage of calories from fat in the high-cholesterol subgroup was not correlated with the decrease in serum cholesterol in this test subgroup. Reductions in systolic and diastolic blood pressure occurred in the test subgroups; the low-cholesterol subgroup had a greater reduction (p = 0.0002) in diastolic blood pressure than the high-cholesterol group (p = 0.0049). Milk supplementation was associated with reduction (p = 0.0370) in serum triglycerides in the high-cholesterol subgroup.

Long-term effect of calcium-vitamin D3 fortified milk on blood pressure and serum lipid concentrations in healthy older men

“…Although saturated fat intakes remained marginally higher than the recommended maximum of 10% energy from saturated fat, there was no evidence of a blood-pressure-lowering effect of milk supplementation even after adjusting for dietary factors. Therefore, although our results contrast with several short-term intervention studies in both normotensive (Van Beresteijn et al, 1990;Buonopane et al, 1992;Hilary Green et al, 2000) and hypertensive individuals (Hilary Green et al, 2000), they are consistent with the results from a meta-analysis indicating that increasing dietary calcium has a negligible effect on lowering blood pressure (Dickinson et al, 2006). An unexpected finding in our study was the significant (3.9-6.8 mm Hg) increase in SBP and DBP in both groups after 2 years.…”

“…Several studies have reported that increased consumption of Table 3 Mean baseline weight, 25(OH)D, PTH, blood pressure, lipid and lipoprotein concentrations in the milk supplementation and control group, and the mean absolute changes within each group relative to baseline after 6, 12, 18 and 24 months milk and other low-fat dairy products can reduce the risk of hypertension and lower blood pressure (Buonopane et al, 1992;Appel et al, 1997;Zemel et al, 2004;Alonso et al, 2005;Ruidavets et al, 2006), and may even lead to greater reductions than can be achieved by supplements alone (Griffith et al, 1999). However, there are no long-term controlled intervention studies that have confirmed this effect.…”

Milk drinking, ischaemic heart disease and ischaemic stroke II. Evidence from cohort studies

“…Milk intake is probably positively related to blood lipid levels (Steinmetz et al, 1994;Nagaya et al, 1996), but the effect shown in many studies is either trivial or absent (Shaper et al, 1991;Jacobsen & Stensvold, 1992;D'Avanso et al, 1995;Abbott et al, 1996;Onning et al, 1998;Barr et al, 2000;Ness et al;Elwood et al, 2003). In fact, in some studies a milk supplement led to a decrease in blood lipids (Buonapane et al, 1992;St Onge et al, 2000;Samuelson et al, 2001), leading again to the suggestion that milk may contain substances that counterbalance any expected positive effect on lipid levels (Pfeuffer & Schrezenmeir, 2000). Then an inverse relationship between calcium intake and blood pressure has been consistently reported (Kromhout et al, 1985;Jorde & Bonna, 2001).…”

Camel Milk: An Important Natural Adjuvant

“…The hypocholesterolemia mechanism of camel milk is still unclear, but different hypotheses have been proposed, including: interaction between bioactive peptides derived from camel milk proteins and cholesterol, which result in cholesterol reduction [68], and the presence of orotic acid in camel milk which is thought to be responsible for lowering cholesterol level in human subjects [17] and in rats [96].…”