Drinking large lattes made with cow’s milk could increase a woman’s risk of heart disease by up to 12 percent, a study suggests.
Scientists have found that women who drink at least 400 ml of this drink per day throughout their lives are more likely to have a heart attack or stroke than those who drink less.
The findings held regardless of the fat content of the milk the women drank, and skimmed versions were equally risky.
The researchers behind the study, from Uppsala University in Sweden theorized that milk sugars, called lactose, can trigger inflammation in the body’s cells over time, putting additional pressure on the heart.
They added that the increased risk may affect only women because they are known to digest lactose better than men.
The study published in the journal BMC Medicine examined two large population-based studies involving 101,000 people, including nearly 60,000 women and about 40,000 men.
Participants were asked to complete a questionnaire about their lifestyle and diet, and were followed up 33 years later.
Specifically, those who consumed the equivalent of a large latte with milk every day throughout the study had a five percent increased risk of coronary heart disease, including heart failure, heart attacks and strokes.
Milk is thought to be dangerous because its sugar, lactose, triggers harmful inflammation and cell damage, aging the heart faster, according to researchers at Uppsala University in Sweden.
She found that the more milk women drank, the higher their heart risk.
Women who drank 600 ml of white matter a day increased their risk by 12 percent and by 21 percent when they drank 800 ml.
Large coffee cups in high street cafes usually contain half a liter of liquid (560 ml) and most of it is milk in a latte or cappuccino.
The researchers said the findings were similar for whole, half-fat and low-fat milk.
They warned that swapping some milk in the diet for fermented dairy products like yogurt could mitigate some of the risk.
These fermented dairy products contain less lactose than milk because the fermentation process breaks down some of the lactose in milk.
Writing in the journal BMC Medicine, study author Professor Karl Michaëlsson said: “A healthy diet is essential for the prevention of cardiovascular diseases.
‘Our analysis supports an association between milk consumption greater than 300 ml per day and higher rates of ischemic heart disease and myocardial infarction (heart attack), specifically, in women, but not in men.
‘The increased risk in women was evident regardless of the fat content of the milk.
“Replacing unfermented milk with moderate consumption of fermented milk could reduce the risks.”
Cardiovascular disease, which includes heart attacks and strokes, affects around 2.3 million people in the UK.
It is often associated with a buildup of fatty deposits within the arteries and increases the risk of blood clots.
Milk and dairy products are an excellent source of calcium, phosphorus, protein and other nutrients vital for bone health.
The International Osteoporosis Foundation explained that calcium is an important component of our skeleton.
If you don’t get enough calcium, your bones can weaken over time, increasing your risk of osteoporosis, which makes your bones brittle and more likely to break.