Higher Intake of Dairy Is Associated with Lower Cardiometabolic Risks and Metabolic Syndrome in Asian Indians

Abstract

There is conflicting evidence about the association between dairy products and cardiometabolic risk (CMR). We aimed to assess the association of total dairy intake with CMR factors and to investigate the association of unfermented and fermented dairy intake with CMR in Asian Indians who are known to have greater susceptibility to type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular diseases compared to white Europeans. The study comprised 1033 Asian Indian adults with normal glucose tolerance chosen from the Chennai Urban Rural Epidemiological Study (CURES). Dietary intake was assessed using a validated open-ended semi-quantitative food frequency questionnaire. Metabolic syndrome (MS) was diagnosed based on the new harmonising criteria using central obesity, dyslipidaemia [low high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL) and increased serum triglycerides (TG)], hypertension and glucose intolerance. Increased consumption of dairy (≥5 cups per day of total, ≥4 cups per day of unfermented or ≥2 cups per day of fermented dairy) was associated with a lower risk of high fasting plasma glucose (FPG) [hazards ratio (HR), 95% confidence interval (CI): 0.68, 0.48–0.96 for total dairy; 0.57, 0.34–0.94 for unfermented dairy; and 0.64, 0.46–0.90 for fermented dairy; p p p p p p < 0.05) compared to an intake of ≤0.1 cup per day. In summary, increased consumption of dairy was associated with a lower risk of MS and components of CMR.

Keywords

• metabolic syndrome
• Asian Indians
• dairy intake
• fermented dairy
• unfermented dairy
• CURES