Milk has long been at the center of diet debates, praised by some and blamed by others for heart trouble. A long-running study out of South Wales offers another take. Tracking older men over two decades, researchers found no convincing evidence that drinking milk increases the risk of heart disease or stroke. The research comes from the Caerphilly cohort, a representative population sample of men living in South Wales who were between 45 and 59 years old when the study began in the late 1970s and early 1980s.
Participants were asked to weigh and record everything they ate and drank for seven consecutive days.
Researchers then followed the group for 20 years, collecting detailed records of deaths, strokes, and heart disease events using standard diagnostic criteria.
What the numbers actually showed
Out of the men approached, 665 returned diet diaries that met the study’s standards, representing 87 per cent participation. The researchers split participants based on milk intake, comparing those who drank at least the median amount of milk with those who drank less.
After adjusting for other factors, men with higher milk consumption showed a lower risk of ischaemic stroke. Their relative odds were 0.52, with a confidence range of 0.27 to 0.99. In plain terms, they experienced about half the stroke risk of lower milk drinkers over the study period.
For ischaemic heart disease, the pattern leaned in the same direction but was less clear-cut. The relative odds came in at 0.88, with a confidence range of 0.56 to 1.40. That result did not show a strong or definitive effect either way.
Deaths from all causes looked nearly identical between the two groups. The relative odds stood at 1.08, suggesting no meaningful difference in overall mortality tied to milk intake.
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What this means
The researchers were careful with their conclusions. The findings do not support claims that milk drinking raises the risk of vascular disease. If anything, the data suggest a reduced risk of ischaemic stroke among men who consumed more milk, and possibly a modest benefit for heart disease as well.
The results also line up with earlier research. The authors noted agreement with a previous overview of 10 large, long-term cohort studies that relied on food frequency questionnaires rather than weighed diet records.
Still, the study does not argue that milk is protective in all cases, nor does it suggest people should increase intake for heart health. It simply challenges the idea that milk, on its own, is a cardiovascular risk.
For a topic often driven by fear and headlines, the takeaway here is restrained. Milk, at least in this group of older men, did not do the damage it is sometimes accused of.
Note to readers: This article is for informational purposes only and not a substitute for professional medical advice. Always seek the advice of your doctor with any questions about a medical condition.
