Milk puts women at risk of cardiovascular disease

The risk of cardiovascular disease increased for women but not for men. Why is there a difference between the sexes?

“There is a gender difference in the way the body breaks down the sugar molecule galactose into glucose. Galactose is a component of milk sugar, and it is well known from animal studies that a high intake of galactose leads to cell stress and inflammation, premature ageing and adverse effects on the cardiovascular system.”

Fermented milk had a positive effect, on the other hand. How so?

“In this study, a high intake of fermented milk (sour milk and yoghurt) was not associated with future risk of ischaemic heart disease or heart attack. This may be due to several factors, such as the fact that they contain a lower amount of milk sugar, that the probiotic bacteria in sour milk reduce the body’s level of inflammation and that few individuals are high consumers of sour milk and yoghurt.”

This is a major study. Does this mean that we can now say with greater certainty that milk affects women's health, as your previous research shows?

“This study is a complementary piece of the puzzle for previous research. We show a moderately increased risk of heart attack in women who drink more than two glasses of milk per day, regardless of the fat content of the milk. On the other hand, this time we can perform large-scale protein analyses and show that a high intake of regular milk is linked to protein levels in the blood – proteins that are important for the development of cardiovascular disease.”

Have you received much reaction to the research results?

“There have been a few interviews with the international press, but it is a far cry from the media pressure I experienced when we published our milk study 10 years ago, when I gave around 350 interviews.”

What will be the next stage of the research?

“In the near future, we will try to publish a randomised study in which women and men are randomised to a three-week period of high consumption of regular milk, three weeks of low consumption of the milk product, then a three-week period of high consumption of sour milk, or vice versa. The main outcome will be cell stress measurements. I cannot reveal the results of the study yet.”

Annica Hulth