Consuming at least three servings of low-fat dairy a
day is associated with a greater risk of developing
Parkinson's disease compared to consuming less than
one serving a day, according to a large study
published in the June 7, 2017, online issue of
Neurology®, the medical journal of the American
Academy of Neurology.

In addition, drinking
more than one serving of low-fat or skim milk per
day is associated with a greater risk of developing
Parkinson's disease compared to drinking less than
one serving per week.
The authors did not find
a Parkinson’s disease association with full-fat
dairy consumption.
The study results do not
show that dairy products cause Parkinson's disease,
they just show an association.
For the study,
researchers analyzed approximately 25 years of data
on 80,736 women enrolled in the Nurses' Health Study
and 48,610 men enrolled in the Health Professionals'
Follow-up Study.
Participants in these
studies completed health questionnaires every two
years and diet questionnaires every four years.
During that time, 1,036 people developed
Parkinson's.
Researchers examined
what kinds of dairy each person consumed, including
milk, cream, cheese, yogurt, ice cream, butter,
margarine and sherbet.
They then looked at
whether full-fat dairy, as whole milk, was
associated with a risk of Parkinson's disease; there
was no association.
However, those who
consumed at least three servings of low-fat dairy a
day had a 34 percent greater chance of developing
Parkinson's than people who consumed less than one
serving per day.
The researchers also
found that when looking specifically at skim and
low-fat milk consumption, there was a 39 percent
greater chance of developing Parkinson's for people
who consumed more than one serving per day compared
to those who consumed less than one serving per
week.
Eating sherbet or frozen
yogurt also was linked to a modest increased risk.
The overall conclusions
from these studies was that frequent consumption of
dairy products was associated with a modest
increased risk of Parkinson's disease.
It is important to note
that the risk of developing Parkinson's was still
very low.
Of the 5,830 people who consumed at least three
servings per day of low-fat dairy at the start of
the study, only 60 people, or 1 percent, developed
the disease over the study period.
In comparison, of the
77,864 people who consumed less than one serving per
day of low-fat dairy, 483 people, or 0.6 percent,
developed Parkinson's.
"Frequently consuming
low-fat dairy products was associated with a modest
increased risk of Parkinson's disease," said Hughes.
One limitation of the
study was that early Parkinson's symptoms may have
affected the dietary behaviors and questionnaire
responses of study participants.
More research is needed
before recommendations can be made about dairy
consumption.
For more information
Intake of dairy foods and risk of Parkinson disease
Neurology
The Official Journal of the
American Academy of Neurology
Link...
The Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health
Link...
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