Dairy That Supports Your Heart and Dairy That Doesn't - Ask a Nutritionist

Transcript:

Amy: Hi everyone, and welcome back to “Ask a Nutritionist”, our weekly mini episode of Dishing Up Nutrition. I'm Amy Crum, a registered dietitian, and today we're tackling a topic that is understandably confusing in the nutrition world: dairy and heart health. Depending on who you ask, dairy can be seen as either a heart healthy food group or something you should avoid altogether.

Milk, cheese, butter. Are they hurting your cholesterol? Are low fat options always better? And what about butter versus plant-based spreads and margarines? If you've ever stared at the dairy case wondering, is this going to hurt or help my heart health, you are not alone and this episode is for you.

Are dairy products bad for the heart?

So let's dig in. First, let's answer the question, are dairy products bad for the heart? The short answer is no. Dairy is not inherently bad for your heart. The longer, more helpful answer, is that the type of dairy and the context of your overall diet matter more than dairy itself.

For years, dairy foods were lumped into the bad for your heart category because they contain saturated fat. But newer research shows that dairy behaves differently in the body than we once thought. Dairy is more than just fat. It's a food matrix. That means the fats, proteins, calcium, potassium, and bioactive compounds all work together.

In many studies, moderate dairy intake is neutral or even protective for heart disease risk. It's also a good idea to choose organic dairy products as much as possible. Organic standards require pasture-based feeding and grass-fed cows produce milk with a healthier fat profile. So instead of asking, is dairy bad; I think the better question is, which dairy products support heart health and which ones don't?

Heart disease risk is strongly tied to certain lab markers

Before we pick apart dairy, I want to zoom out for a minute because at Nutritional Weight & Wellness, we don't blame one ingredient for heart disease. We look at patterns. Heart disease risk is strongly tied to certain lab markers like having high triglycerides, having low HDL, which is that good cholesterol and having high blood sugars consistently, all of which get worse when sugar and refined carbs creep in the diet day after day.

Triglycerides are one of the biggest risk markers for cardiovascular disease, and these numbers are most heavily influenced by having a regular intake of added sugars and refined carbohydrates. Not from a pat of butter or a little cheese, though portions do still matter.

Some people may be intolerant to dairy

I also want to add that there are a variety of reasons some people can't tolerate dairy either due to intolerances, allergies, GI disturbances, and other sensitivities. If that's the case for you, I would not recommend adding dairy to your diet.

Which dairy products are heart healthy & which aren’t?

So, which dairy products are heart healthy and which products are not heart healthy? Let's start with some heart supportive dairy options. Dairy choices that are more heart healthy include plain full fat yogurt. Fermented dairy has been linked to lower cardiovascular disease risk.

It supports gut health, which plays a role in decreasing inflammation and cholesterol metabolism. The fat and protein slows carb absorption and dairy fat doesn't drive triglycerides the way sugar does. Kefir is another fermented dairy product with heart and gut benefits.

What about cheeses? Choose natural cheeses in moderation, especially aged cheeses. Despite being higher in saturated fat, they don't consistently raise heart disease risk when eaten in reasonable amounts. We recommend keeping cheese and intake to about an ounce a day. You should choose heavy cream and butter in moderation. The problem arises when you pair high fat dairy products with refined carbohydrates.

So a pat of grass fed butter on top of broccoli or used to sauté protein in vegetables is a heart healthy choice. Whereas pats of butter layered between stacks of fluffy pancakes is not a heart healthy choice. A tablespoon of heavy cream or whole milk added to black coffee is a heart healthy choice, whereas milk or cream in a sugary latte is not a heart healthy choice.

Now that we've talked about better dairy options , let's get into less heart friendly dairy choices. I don't think it will surprise you, but the first one is highly processed cheese products. Think individually wrapped cheese slices, spreads and cheese sauces. These are often far from natural and high in additives. They often have a label like processed cheese food, not real cheese.

Next is fat-free sweetened yogurts and milk. When fat is removed, lactose or the sugar in milk hits harder, spiking insulin and leading to liver making triglycerides. When even more sugar is added for flavor, triglycerides and inflammation increases, negatively impacting heart health.

Always look for no added sugar in dairy products. There's some yogurt options as stevia or natural sweeteners if you don't like the taste of plain yogurt, or you can blend up fruit with plain yogurt at home to get the yogurt health benefits without the sour taste of plain yogurt.

Another option to sweeten plain yogurt is to add a scoop of our Key Greens powder to give it extra flavor, or my favorite is to put in a little vanilla or chocolate protein powder in your yogurt. I like using our whey protein powder to add a little sweet flavor, and you get that bonus of some extra protein too.

So the takeaway here is minimally processed dairy with no added sugar is a better choice for your heart than highly processed dairy, and pair dairy foods with other real foods, mainly high quality protein and vegetables, avoiding refined carbohydrates.

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How does dairy affect cholesterol?

So how does dairy affect cholesterol? Some dairy contains saturated fat, which can raise LDL or bad cholesterol, but there are caveats to this. Dairy also contains calcium, which binds some fat in digestion. It contains protein which helps with satiety and metabolic health and fermentation byproducts that may improve cholesterol balance.

Saturated fat from milk doesn't increase heart disease risk the same way saturated fat and heavily processed meats and fast food do. It also has a more neutral effect when eaten in moderate amounts. The real concern is excess saturated fat, combined with refined carbs, low fiber intake, and minimal physical activity.

An important key to remember is that dairy often raises both LDL and HDL, the good cholesterol that helps clear plaque, and sometimes the increase in HDL offsets that LDL rise.

Even more importantly, not all LDL is equally harmful. Dairy tends to increase those larger fluffier LDL particles, which are less strongly associated with heart disease than small dense LDL particles. To get a more detailed breakdown of your LDL cholesterol, you can request a test called an NMR profile.

This test goes beyond a standard cholesterol panel to differentiate between small dense LDL particles, which are more prone to causing plaque versus large buoyant LDL particles. So especially for those eating dairy as part of a real food diet, dairy does not significantly increase cardiovascular risk.

That said, if you already have a very high LDL level, a strong family history of heart disease, or respond poorly to saturated fat, the type and amount of dairy you choose becomes more important. If that's the case for you, I'd recommend meeting with one of our dietitians or nutritionist here at Nutritional Weight & Wellness to talk more about your cholesterol labs and make a plan that's tailored specifically for your health.

Margarine vs. butter: which is healthier?

Now, let's talk about margarine versus butter. Which is healthier? Butter is made from cream and is minimally processed. When used with our recommendations of a tablespoon serving on top of vegetables or to coat your sauté pan, it's a heart safe choice.

Margarine was originally made with trans fats, which are very bad for the heart. Modern, soft, or tub margarines are now trans fat-free, made from vegetable oils like soybean or canola oil. Margarine is not a dairy food, but rather used as a butter replacement. These spreads used highly refined oils, which are heart damaging. Avoiding these vegetable oil spreads or margarines is important for heart health.

Examples of how to incorporate dairy foods into real food balanced eating

Now let's give some examples of how we could incorporate dairy foods into a day of real food balanced eating. A heart healthy breakfast could be grass fed butter used to coat your pan for an egg and veggie scramble. A balanced snack option could be plain, whole milk yogurt, or cottage cheese to with nuts or seeds and berries. This is getting you protein from the yogurt, nuts or seeds as your healthy fat, plus a little fruit for a real food carbohydrate.

This is a go-to snack that's satisfying, balanced, and helps retrain taste buds away from constant sugar. Or how about a protein shake with grass fed whey protein powder, half a banana, a tablespoon of nut butter, and a little bit of whole milk or yogurt for a little extra protein and healthy fat. Again, all about balance.

Cheese can be a part of a balanced charcuterie snack plate. A couple different types of good quality cheese, some nitrate free meats, fruits, olives, pickles, and nuts, for example. I like to have this out when friends come over and my kids love this as an afterschool snack.

These are just some examples of how to incorporate dairy as part of a real food balanced diet. We at Nutritional Weight & Wellness, consistently use full fat dairy for our clients who are not dairy sensitive, as a healthy fat and protein source to anchor blood sugar, support satiety, and help clients eat in a way that improves their labs.

The bigger issue is usually sugar, refined carbs and ultra processed fats. So here's the bottom line. Dairy isn't the enemy of your heart. In fact, high quality dairy in the right amounts can support heart health. Thoughtful choices matter more than blanket avoidance. Choose real food, minimally processed dairy, avoid added sugars and pair dairy with protein and fiber, not refined carbs.

And remember, heart health isn't about one food. It's about an overall pattern and consistency. If you found this episode helpful, the best way you can support this podcast is to share it with a friend to help us spread our message of real food for real health. Thanks so much for listening, and we'll talk to you next time.