Vimaleswaran KS, Zhou A, Cavadino A and Hyppönen E. Evidence for a causal association between milk intake and cardiometabolic disease outcomes using a two-sample Mendelian Randomization analysis in up to 1,904,220 individuals. International Journal of Obesity, 2021.
Summary:
- The present Mendelian Randomization study examined the casual association between milk consumption and cardio-metabolic traits using the lactase persistence variant as an instrumental variable in a meta-analysis of the data from three large scale population-based studies.
- They reported that carriers of the 'T' allele of the LCT variant were more likely to consume milk, and showed a causal relationship with higher BMI and body fat, but lower LIL-C, TC and HDL-C. ‘T’ allele was also associated with a lower risk of coronary artery disease but not with type 2 diabetes.
- They concluded that milk consumption was associated with higher BMI but lower serum cholesterol levels and suggested no need to limit milk intakes concerning cardiovascular disease risk.
Discussion:
- This study with large sample size and using LCT gene variant as an instrument presented the strengths for replicating the founding and reducing confounding factors.
- However, the lack of information on the gastro-intestinal disease of participants and different measurements of milk intake may cause limitations of this founding.
Question:
Are all types of milk equally associated with cardiometabolic risk?
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