THE ULTIMATE
No whey! Dairy’s not so bad for you after all
My mother, it appears, is going to live forever. The woman who bought 12 pints of milk for a two-night holiday in Wales; the woman who has three “emergency” pats of butter in her fridge at all times, despite living five doors down from a corner shop; the woman who uses cheese as a seasoning and whose own mother was crowned Dairy Queen of Cockshut in 1938; the woman whose cups of tea are half-milk and who will only “choke down” porridge if it comes covered in cream; her heart, it appears, will beat on until the end of time.
Eating cheese does not raise risk of heart attack or stroke, study finds
Read moreFor a new report, published in the European Journal of Epidemiology (and which was part-funded by three pro-dairy groups, Global Dairy Platform, Dairy Research Institute and Dairy Australia, though they had no influence over it) has found that consuming cheese, milk and yoghurt – even full-fat versions – does not increase the risk of a heart attack or stroke. Be still my beating fat valves – redemption is here.
If, like me, you grew up in the sort of house where a whole pint of full-fat milk was considered a healthy accompaniment to a meal cooked in butter, then this will come as welcome news indeed. As a child, I had what was commonly described as a cream face – as spherical as the moon, my disappearing eyes in a protracted civil war against my swollen cheeks every time I smiled, my chins numerous. The butter on my sandwiches was as thick as the cheese, I spooned out the top of the silver-top milk with my finger and I ate cubes of cheddar like popcorn. Later in life, after cycling around my father’s home country on a diet thick with milk, cheese, butter and yoghurt, I came home with a shining example of what is affectionately known as the New Zealand dairy arse.
But, it would appear, all that dairy may have done little to compromise my health. Or, at least, we can’t blame the dairy element specifically. This new study, which was the result of a meta-analysis of 29 previous studies (involving 938,465 participants from around the world undertaken over the past 35 years) concluded that dairy did not raise the risk of serious heart problems or cardiovascular disease; and, in fact, had a “neutral” impact on human health. Ah, the joy of being neutral. My arteries are like an Ikea bedding set, a BBC discussion, a Next shirt. The years of milk-based munching may have wrought no more damage to my heart than a pair of magnolia curtains.
The farming revolution that aims to bring free-range milk to Britain
Read moreOf course, there are some tremendous ethical problems involved in dairy consumption. I’m sure we’ve all seen the recent Go Vegan World campaign posters around the place, pointing out that “humane” milk is something of an oxymoron when you look into the constant pregnancy, calf-separation, intensive milking and indoor farming involved in mass dairy production. Meanwhile, according to data from the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, the income of dairy farms was predicted to almost halve over the past tax year. The combination of crippling price cuts, fluctuating commodity prices, a Russian import ban, the drop in demand, payment delays and ever-increasing pressure from supermarkets means that thousands of dairy farmers are leaving the industry every year. As the National Farmers Union dairy board chairman Rob Harrison said in 2015: “Being a dairy farmer at the moment is like being a boxer – on the ropes and taking body blow after body blow – there’s only so much you can take before throwing in the towel.”
But perhaps UK dairy farmers can take some solace from the news that, according to this report at least, a high-milk diet will not necessarily increase your chances of clotting, artery furring or fatty organs. Or, as they put it, serious heart problems, coronary heart disease or cardiovascular disease. Take succour from those scientific-flavoured words like “meta-analysis” and “epidemiology”, lie back and think of the apparent “misconception” that eating dairy can lead to cardiovascular problems, take another gulp of the white stuff and remember: it’s sugar that we’re all scared of now.
But, before we all toast our good luck with a round of whole milk, it should be noted that a spokesman for Public Health England pointed out that quite a lot of dairy products are high in saturated fat and salt. And that “we’re all consuming too much of both, increasing our risk of heart disease”.
A study part-funded by some pro-dairy groups may have failed to prove a link between dairy and heart attacks, but that isn’t necessarily the blank cheque all cheese fanatics are hoping for. A balanced diet may not come entirely flooded in milk, churned across the waves of salted butter.
Mind you – and this is entirely anecdotal, I know – if you’re wondering what happened to the Dairy Queen of Cockshut 1938, then let me tell you: she lived to the ripe old curds-and-whey age of 96. May we all be so lucky.
Source: https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2017/may/13/no-whey-milk-cheese-dairy-study
Eating cheese does not raise risk of heart attack or stroke, study finds
Read moreFor a new report, published in the European Journal of Epidemiology (and which was part-funded by three pro-dairy groups, Global Dairy Platform, Dairy Research Institute and Dairy Australia, though they had no influence over it) has found that consuming cheese, milk and yoghurt – even full-fat versions – does not increase the risk of a heart attack or stroke. Be still my beating fat valves – redemption is here.
If, like me, you grew up in the sort of house where a whole pint of full-fat milk was considered a healthy accompaniment to a meal cooked in butter, then this will come as welcome news indeed. As a child, I had what was commonly described as a cream face – as spherical as the moon, my disappearing eyes in a protracted civil war against my swollen cheeks every time I smiled, my chins numerous. The butter on my sandwiches was as thick as the cheese, I spooned out the top of the silver-top milk with my finger and I ate cubes of cheddar like popcorn. Later in life, after cycling around my father’s home country on a diet thick with milk, cheese, butter and yoghurt, I came home with a shining example of what is affectionately known as the New Zealand dairy arse.
But, it would appear, all that dairy may have done little to compromise my health. Or, at least, we can’t blame the dairy element specifically. This new study, which was the result of a meta-analysis of 29 previous studies (involving 938,465 participants from around the world undertaken over the past 35 years) concluded that dairy did not raise the risk of serious heart problems or cardiovascular disease; and, in fact, had a “neutral” impact on human health. Ah, the joy of being neutral. My arteries are like an Ikea bedding set, a BBC discussion, a Next shirt. The years of milk-based munching may have wrought no more damage to my heart than a pair of magnolia curtains.
The farming revolution that aims to bring free-range milk to Britain
Read moreOf course, there are some tremendous ethical problems involved in dairy consumption. I’m sure we’ve all seen the recent Go Vegan World campaign posters around the place, pointing out that “humane” milk is something of an oxymoron when you look into the constant pregnancy, calf-separation, intensive milking and indoor farming involved in mass dairy production. Meanwhile, according to data from the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, the income of dairy farms was predicted to almost halve over the past tax year. The combination of crippling price cuts, fluctuating commodity prices, a Russian import ban, the drop in demand, payment delays and ever-increasing pressure from supermarkets means that thousands of dairy farmers are leaving the industry every year. As the National Farmers Union dairy board chairman Rob Harrison said in 2015: “Being a dairy farmer at the moment is like being a boxer – on the ropes and taking body blow after body blow – there’s only so much you can take before throwing in the towel.”
But perhaps UK dairy farmers can take some solace from the news that, according to this report at least, a high-milk diet will not necessarily increase your chances of clotting, artery furring or fatty organs. Or, as they put it, serious heart problems, coronary heart disease or cardiovascular disease. Take succour from those scientific-flavoured words like “meta-analysis” and “epidemiology”, lie back and think of the apparent “misconception” that eating dairy can lead to cardiovascular problems, take another gulp of the white stuff and remember: it’s sugar that we’re all scared of now.
But, before we all toast our good luck with a round of whole milk, it should be noted that a spokesman for Public Health England pointed out that quite a lot of dairy products are high in saturated fat and salt. And that “we’re all consuming too much of both, increasing our risk of heart disease”.
A study part-funded by some pro-dairy groups may have failed to prove a link between dairy and heart attacks, but that isn’t necessarily the blank cheque all cheese fanatics are hoping for. A balanced diet may not come entirely flooded in milk, churned across the waves of salted butter.
Mind you – and this is entirely anecdotal, I know – if you’re wondering what happened to the Dairy Queen of Cockshut 1938, then let me tell you: she lived to the ripe old curds-and-whey age of 96. May we all be so lucky.
Source: https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2017/may/13/no-whey-milk-cheese-dairy-study