Dairy product consumption reduces cardiovascular mortality: results after 8 year follow-up of ELSA-Brasil.

PURPOSE To investigate whether the consumption of dairy products and their subgroups is associated with the risk of death from cardiovascular disease (CVD) after 8-year follow-up, and verify if dairy products predict changes in high-sensitivity C-reactive protein (hs-CRP) between two follow-up visits of the Brazilian Longitudinal Study of Adult Health (ELSA-Brasil). METHODS Prospective study with 6671 participants without CVD at baseline. Consumption in grams/day of total dairy, full-fat and low-fat dairy, fermented dairy, and milk was obtained through a food frequency questionnaire and categorized into sex-specific quartiles. Cox regression and linear mixed-effect models were used to estimate associations of dairy products intake with death from CVD and changes in hs-CRP levels, respectively. RESULTS After adjustments, individuals in the 3rd and 4th quartiles of total dairy consumption presented, respectively, 62% (HR 0.38; 95% CI 0.15-0.99) and 64% (HR 0.36; 95% CI 0.14-0.94) lower hazards of death from CVD compared to the 1st quartile. Also, participants in the 4th quartile of milk consumption had 66% (HR 0.34; 95% CI 0.14-0.86) lower hazard to die from CVD, but only the 2nd quartile of full-fat dairy consumption indicated a lower hazard to die from CVD (HR 0.30; 95% CI 0.10-0.92). No association was observed between low-fat or fermented dairy products and cardiovascular mortality. Consumption of total dairy and their subgroups did not predict changes in hs-CRP levels after 4-year follow-up. CONCLUSION Results suggest beneficial effects of total dairy and milk, but only low-to-moderate full-fat dairy consumption, on the risk of death from CVD. Assuming true effects, public policies should encourage the consumption of dairy products, especially milk.