A new study has revealed that there is a hidden health risk in milk around the world. Drinking skimmed milk also increases the risk of heart attack. Scientists at Uppsala University in Sweden say the lactose in milk triggers inflammation and cell damage, which ages your heart faster and puts extra strain on it.

However, research says the risk only affects women. Men are not affected as much because they are able to digest sugar better.

How was the study conducted?

According to experts, the study published in the BMC Medicine journal involved at least 101,000 people. Of these, about 60,000 were women and about 40,000 were men.

Scientists had participants fill out a questionnaire about their lifestyle and the diet was followed for 33 years. Specifically, people who consumed the equivalent of a large milkshake daily throughout the study had a 5 percent higher risk of coronary heart disease — including heart failure, heart attack and stroke.

The study also found that the more milk women drank, the greater the risk to their heart. For women who drank 600 ml of milk per day, the risk increased by 12 percent and for those who drank 800 ml, the risk increased by 21 percent. The researchers said the findings were similar for whole, medium-fat and low-fat milk.

“A healthy diet is essential for preventing heart disease. “Our analysis supports an association between milk intake of more than 300 ml per day and higher rates of ischemic heart disease and myocardial infarction (heart attack), particularly in women, but not in men,” study author Professor Karl Michelson wrote in the journal. BMC medicine.

What to take instead of milk?

According to experts, milk can be replaced with fermented milk products like yogurt, which contain less lactose as the fermentation process breaks down some of the lactose in the milk. Yogurt is rich in calcium and is an excellent source of protein, which is important for the health of your bones and muscles. According to the International Osteoporosis Foundation, calcium is a major building block of our skeleton.

If you don’t get enough calcium, it can cause weak bones over time, increasing your risk of osteoporosis and making bones brittle and more likely to break. Studies also say that consuming saturated fat from whole milk products increases HDL or good cholesterol, which protects your heart. Other studies have shown that yogurt consumption reduces the overall incidence of heart disease.

Furthermore, curd also reduces high blood pressure levels – a major risk factor for heart disease. This effect appears to be most prominent in people already suffering from high blood pressure.

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