A recent Marion Nestle post, Industry-funded studies of the week: Yogurt highlights three papers which strongly support the health benefits of consuming full fat dairy-in particular yogurt.
Nestle does a great job of highlighting food industry ties to nutritional research and publications on her excellent website Food Politics and in her books including “Unsavory Truth: How Food Companies Skew the Science of What We Eat.”
She notes that publication of these yogurt papers was paid for by a big player in the yogurt industry:
These three papers were part of a supplement to Advances in Nutrition published in September 2019: Supplement—6th Yogurt in Nutrition Initiative (YINI) Summit / More than the Sum of Its Parts, sponsored by Danone Institutes International. Publication costs for this supplement were defrayed in part by the payment of page charges.
Yes, these three papers were published in a supplement sponsored by the yogurt industry and therefore must be taken with a grain of salt.
However, a totally unbiased look at the data on yogurt and cardiovascular disease which I have provided here and here comes to the same conclusion. Misguided attempts to make full fat yogurt healthier by eliminating dairy fat have created artificial sugar-laden monstrosities which are actually stealth desserts.
It’s interesting that the dairy industry has been complicit in promoting the idea that low fat dairy is healthier because (as I pointed out here) it allows them to double dip the milk cash cow-skimming off the healthy fat and selling the separated fat and the residual skim milk separately.
The second paper ( Dairy Foods, Obesity, and Metabolic Health: The Role of the Food Matrix Compared with Single Nutrients) was based on a talk that Dariush Mozaffarian gave at the American Society of Nutrition 2018 Congress. I’ve been following Mozaffarian’s work since 2012 and I consider him to be an excellent researcher, writer and thinker who can be trusted to present unbiased information. The content of that talk presented by him at a national scientific congress in front of his academic colleagues is unlikely to be biased.
Here is what he concludes:
“The present evidence suggests that whole-fat dairy foods do not cause weight gain, that overall dairy consumption increases lean body mass and reduces body fat, that yogurt consumption and probiotics reduce weight gain, that fermented dairy consumption including cheese is linked to lower CVD risk, and that yogurt, cheese, and even dairy fat may protect against type 2 diabetes. Based on the current science, dairy consumption is part of a healthy diet, without strong evidence to favor reduced-fat products; while intakes of probiotic-containing unsweetened and fermented dairy products such as yogurt and cheese appear especially beneficial.”
It’s important to look at the disclosures for any scientific paper and Mozzafarian has a lot of industry ties to disclose:
“DM received an honorarium from the American Society of Nutrition for the preparation of this manuscript. A freelance science writer, Denise Webb, was supported by Danone Institute International to prepare an initial draft of this manuscript for DM based on a recording of his talk and slides at the American Society of Nutrition 2018 Congress. The final manuscript was edited in detail and approved by DM. The funders had no role in the design, analysis, interpretation, review, or final approval of the manuscript for publication…DM reports research funding from the NIH and the Gates Foundation; personal fees from GOED, Nutrition Impact, Pollock Communications, Bunge, Indigo Agriculture, Amarin, Acasti Pharma, Cleveland Clinic Foundation, and America’s Test Kitchen; scientific advisory board, Elysium Health (with stock options), Omada Health, and DayTwo; and chapter royalties from UpToDate; all outside the submitted work.”
The lead author of the third paper Nestle’ highlights ( Effects of Full-Fat and Fermented Dairy Products on Cardiometabolic Disease: Food Is More Than the Sum of Its Parts.) is Arne Astrup another nutritional writer/researcher who I have a ton of respect for. He’s written extensively on the topic of saturated fat and dairy in multiple publications which were not tied to the dairy industry in any way.
Astrup concludes:
“Although more research is warranted to adjust for possible confounding factors and to better understand the mechanisms of action of dairy products on health outcomes, it becomes increasingly clear that the recommendation to restrict dietary saturated fat to reduce risk of cardiometabolic disease is getting outdated. Therefore, the suggestion to restrict or eliminate full-fat dairy from the diet may not be the optimal strategy for reducing cardiometabolic disease risk and should be re-evaluated in light of recent evidence.”
His disclosures are extensive but they reveal how wide-ranging his interests are and how dedicated he is to optimizing diet.
AA is a member of advisory boards/consultant for BioCare Copenhagen, Denmark; Dutch Beer Institute, Netherlands; Gelesis, United States; Groupe Éthique et Santé, France; McCain Foods Limited, United States; Novo Nordisk, Denmark; Pfizer, United States; Saniona, Denmark; and Weight Watchers, United States. AA has received travel grants and honoraria as a speaker for a wide range of Danish and international consortia. AA is co-owner and member of the board of the consultancy company Dentacom Aps, Denmark; cofounder and co-owner of UCPH spin-outs Mobile Fitness A/S, Flaxslim ApS, and Personalized Weight Management Research Consortium ApS (Gluco-diet.dk). He is coinventor of a number of patents owned by the University of Copenhagen, in accordance with Danish law. He is coauthor of a number of diet and cookery books, including books on personalized diet approaches. AA is not an advocate or activist for specific diets and is not strongly committed to any specific diet.”
I love what he says at the end of his disclosure statement
“AA is not an advocate or activist for specific diets and is not strongly committed to any specific diet.”
Hooray! That is exactly what we need in the world of dietary recommendations.
I am particularly heartened by the conclusions of these two illustrious international nutritional authorities who have managed to cut through the long-standing nutritional dogma that all saturated fat is bad. As one who has no ties to any food or medical industry group and who is not an advocate or activitist for specific diets I concluded as they have that
- Based on the current science, dairy consumption is part of a healthy diet, without strong evidence to favor reduced-fat products; while intakes of probiotic-containing unsweetened and fermented dairy products such as yogurt and cheese appear especially beneficial.”
- It becomes increasingly clear that the recommendation to restrict dietary saturated fat to reduce risk of cardiometabolic disease is getting outdated. Therefore, the suggestion to restrict or eliminate full-fat dairy from the diet may not be the optimal strategy for reducing cardiometabolic disease risk and should be re-evaluated in light of recent evidence.”
As I wrote in my letter to the FDA and in a recent critique of the AHA I would change the verbiage to “the suggestion to restrict or eliminate full-fat dairy from the diet is not a proven strategy for reducing the risk of cardiovascular disease, obesity or diabetes and should be eliminated from current dietary guidelines.”
Two key points that these papers help emphasize:
- Eating fat doesn’t make you fat
- All saturated fat is not bad for your heart
It is important to look at industry influence on research and publications (along with other biases) but it is hard to find an expert in these areas who hasn’t had some industry ties. Part of these ties develop because researchers who have concluded a particular food is healthy based on their independent review of the literature will be sought after as a speaker at conferences organized by the support groups for that food.
Fortunately, my evaluations remain unsullied by any food industry ties and, like Dr. Astrup, I am not an advocate or activist for specific diets and I am not not strongly committed to any specific diet.
Skeptically Yours,
-ACP
N.B. Trader’s Point Creamery Yogurt no longer distributes their wonderful products. I’ve started consuming Maple Hill 100% grass fed full fat yogurt and it is quite good.
N.B. #2.Arne Astrup’s bio.
Prof. Arne Astrup is Head of the Department of Nutrition, Exercise and Sports at the University of Copenhagen, and Senior Consultant at Clinical Research Unit, Herlev-Gentofte University Hospital. Astrup attained his medical degree from UCPH in 1982 and a Doctorate in Medical Science in 1986. He was Appointed Professor of Nutrition and Head of the Research Department of Human Nutrition at The Royal Veterinary and Agricultural University, Denmark, in 1990, he led the department throughout its development ever since.
His researches focus on the physiology and pathophysiology of energy and substrate metabolism and appetite regulation, with special emphasis on the etiology and treatment of obesity, including the role of diet composition and of specific nutrients, lifestyle modification, very-low-calorie diets, exercise, and medication. Major research collaborations include participation in the EU multicenter studies.
He led research that showed that GLP-1 is a satiety hormone in humans, and was instrumental in Denmark being the first country to ban industrial trans-fat in 2014. He is author/co-author of over 600 original, review and editorial scientific papers and more than 1000 other academic publications such as abstracts, textbook chapters and scientific correspondence. He has supervised 32 PhD students to date.
Darius Mozzafarian’s bio (Wikipedia)
Dariush Mozaffarian (born August 19, 1969) is an American cardiologist, Dean and Jean Mayer Professor at the Gerald J. and Dorothy R. Friedman School of Nutrition Science and Policy at Tufts University, and Professor of Medicine at Tufts University School of Medicine.
Mozaffarian is the author of nearly 400 scientific publications and has served as an adviser for the US and Canadian governments, American Heart Association, World Health Organization, and the United Nations.