Is drinking whole milk likely to cause high blood lipids? Nutritionists use 3 arguments to clarify misconceptions!

Are you worried that your blood is too greasy? Is it better not to choose whole milk when drinking milk to supplement calcium? According to the survey, about 1/5 of adults in China have excessive blood lipid levels. In order to save their health, many people deliberately avoid "oily foods", and even fresh milk is no exception. They avoid it when they see the word "full fat". However, nutritionists would shake their heads at this move, because the primary focus of controlling blood lipids is not to "eat less oil" but to "reduce bad oil" and "high fiber"!

According to the survey on changes in the national nutritional and health status from 2013 to 2016, the prevalence of hyperlipidemia among adults in China is as high as 22.8%, with one in five people having excessive blood lipid index. If ignored for a long time, it will increase the risk of cardiovascular disease and myocardial infarction in the future. Since high blood lipids are so terrible, how can we keep our blood lipid index normal? Diet is definitely very important!

However, modern people have many misconceptions about the dietary prevention and treatment of hyperlipidemia, and "full-fat dairy products can easily increase cholesterol and lead to hyperlipidemia" is one of them. Nutritionist Su Yanchen said that although the word "fat" in "hyperlipidemia" may remind people of "grease" and "fat", people may think that to prevent or reverse hyperlipidemia, they should follow the principle of eating less oil, and even low-fat milk is better than full-fat milk. However, "this concept is wrong!"

Below, nutritionist Su Yanchen further explains from 3 aspects why "people with high blood lipids can also drink whole milk safely"!

1. Clinical health education principles do not limit oil:

Most people think that patients with hyperlipidemia should eat "less oil" in their diet, but in fact, according to clinical dietary education guidelines for patients with hyperlipidemia, unless the patient's triglyceride level is greater than 500 mg/dl (normal people's level is less than 200 mg/dl), which is so high that the pancreas is about to be inflamed, "there is no special recommendation to reduce the intake of fat."

Simply put, if a healthy diet recommends that daily fat intake should account for 25% to 35% of total calorie intake, an adult who requires 1,800 calories a day should consume 450 to 630 calories of fat, equivalent to 50 to 70 grams. A 250 ml cup of whole milk contains about 8 grams of fat, while low-fat milk contains about 4 grams of fat. Compared to the amount of fat you can consume in a whole day, this 4-gram fat difference is less than 1/10, so there is no need to worry too much. (Note: 1 gram of fat contains about 9 calories)

What's more, the latest version of the "Daily Dietary Guidelines" published by the National Health Administration in 2018 also referred to many domestic and foreign studies in recent years and revised the dietary recommendations, changing the original "low-fat dairy products" to "dairy products", breaking the myth that full-fat dairy products are more likely to cause weight gain or increase the risk of chronic diseases, and emphasizing that full-fat and low-fat dairy products are equally healthy.

2. Milk contains good oil ingredients that can promote fat metabolism:

Although fresh milk contains fat, fat can be good or bad. Nutritionist Su Yanchen said that studies have long found that cow's milk contains precious "conjugated linoleic acid (CLA)", which is a type of unsaturated fatty acid that has the function of promoting fat metabolism. Unfortunately, conjugated linoleic acid is discarded during the fat-removing process of skim milk.

3. The Mediterranean diet also uses a lot of oil:

The Mediterranean diet is currently recognized as the most helpful dietary pattern for controlling blood lipids. If eating less oil is necessary to prevent hyperlipidemia, then why do chefs from the Mediterranean region always use large amounts of olive oil when cooking every time we see them on TV? In fact, the key is not the "amount of oil" but the "type of oil"!

Nutritionist Su Yanchen said that research has found that the three major food culprits that actually lead to high blood lipids and increased bad cholesterol are saturated fat, trans fat and refined sugar. If you use cooking oils with a high proportion of saturated fatty acids, such as lard, butter, coconut oil, etc. for a long time, or if you often consume fried foods or foods cooked with recycled oil, as well as creamer, butter, potato chips, cakes, puff pastry, etc. that are rich in trans fats, it is easy to cause abnormal blood lipids and greasy blood.

Vegetable oils such as olive oil and camellia oil are good oils with a higher proportion of unsaturated fatty acids. As long as they are not cooked at excessively high temperatures, moderate use can actually maintain cardiovascular health. By the way, another important reason why the Mediterranean diet helps control blood lipids is the “high-fiber diet”. Fiber foods can not only help excrete excess fat in the intestines through defecation, but the plant sterols in their ingredients also have the effect of reducing cholesterol.

★【Intimate Reminder】：

Correct eating habits and concepts are certainly important, but the prevention and treatment of hyperlipidemia cannot rely solely on diet. I remind you to pay attention to a regular lifestyle and develop the habit of exercising more to maintain cardiovascular health. In addition, if you have been diagnosed with hyperlipidemia by a doctor and need to take medication to control it, remember to take the medication as directed by the doctor and do not stop taking the medication without authorization, so as not to affect blood lipid control and cause worsening!