Low-fat dairy consumption reduces systolic blood pressure, but does not improve other metabolic risk parameters in overweight and obese subjects.

BACKGROUND AND AIMS: Epidemiological studies have indicated a negative relation between low-fat dairy consumption and the metabolic syndrome. However, evidence from intervention studies is scarce. Our aim was to investigate the effects of daily consumption of low-fat dairy products on metabolic risk parameters in overweight and obese men and women. METHODS AND RESULTS: Thirty-five healthy subjects (BMI>27kg/m(2)) consumed low-fat dairy products (500mL low-fat milk and 150g low-fat yogurt) or carbohydrate-rich control products (600mL fruit juice and 3 fruit biscuits) daily for 8 weeks in random order. Compared with the control period, systolic blood pressure was decreased by 2.9mmHg (95% confidence interval (CI), -5.5 to -0.3mmHg; P=0.027), while the difference in diastolic blood pressure did not reach statistical significance (95% CI, -3.4 to 0.3mmHg; P=0.090). Low-fat dairy consumption decreased HDL-cholesterol concentrations by 0.04mmol/L (95% CI, -0.07 to -0.01mmol/L; P=0.021) and apo A-1 concentrations by 0.04g/L (95% CI, -0.07 to -0.01g/L; P=0.016) compared with control. Serum total cholesterol, LDL-cholesterol, apo B, triacylglycerols, non-esterified fatty acids, glucose, insulin, C-reactive protein and plasminogen activator inhibitor-1 were unchanged. CONCLUSION: We conclude that in overweight and obese subjects, daily intake of low-fat dairy products for 8 weeks decreased systolic blood pressure, but did not improve other metabolic risk factors related to the metabolic syndrome.