Written By: Shraddha Rupavate | Published : October 29, 2014 3:26 PM IST
According to a study published in the British Medical Journal, drinking more than 3 glasses of milk every day could bring you closer to death.
The study, involving two large groups of 61,433 women (aged between 39 and 74 years in 1987-1990) and 45,339 men (aged between 45 and 79 years in 1997) in Sweden, assessed food frequency with the help of questionnaires for 96 common foods including milk, yoghurt and cheese.
Women in the study group were tracked for an average of 20 years, during which period 15,541 died and 17,252 had a fracture. It was observed that women who drank more than three glasses of milk a day (average 680 ml) had a greater risk of death compared to women who consumed less than one glass of milk every day (average 60 ml). (Read: A glass of milk a day can keep heart disease away!)
Men were tracked for an average of 11 years, during which period 10,112 died and 5,066 had a fracture. It was found that men had a greater risk of death with higher milk consumption, although the risk was lesser compared to that in women.
Further the study also analysed the association between milk consumption and biomarkers of oxidative stress and inflammation. According to the researchers, the risk of death with increased milk consumption could be due to the high levels of lactose and galactose (types of sugar) in milk, that increase oxidative stress and chronic inflammation in animal studies. 'Our results may question the validity of recommendations to consume high amounts of milk to prevent fragility fractures,' said lead researher Karl MichaAlsson from Uppsala University in Sweden. (Read:7 reasons to start drinking turmeric milk or haldi doodh)
Surprisingly, researchers found no link between higher milk consumption and reduction in fracture risk in women, one of the main reasons why diet rich in milk is recommended for boosting calcium intake in fracture risk.
With inputs from IANS
Photo source: Getty images
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