By The Survivors Club Staff
July 29, 2009

Got milk? Run, don't walk to the store...

Drinking milk every day can reduce your chances of dying from heart disease and stroke by as much as 20 percent, according to new research at three universities in Britain.

Recent research has questioned the health benefits of milk, especially because it contains saturated fat and sugars.  The new findings - based on 324 different studies -- found that the benefits of drinking milk far outweigh any dangers.

How much milk should you drink every day?

The review brought together published evidence from 324 studies of milk consumption as predictors of coronary heart disease (CHD), stroke and, diabetes. Data on milk consumption and cancer were based on the recent World Cancer Research Fund report. The outcomes were then compared with current death rates from these diseases.

“Our findings clearly show that when the numbers of deaths from coronary heart disease, stroke and colo-rectal cancer were taken into account, there is strong evidence of an overall reduction in the risk of dying from these chronic diseases due to milk consumption," said Dr. Ian Givens of the University of Reading. "We certainly found no evidence that drinking milk might increase the risk of developing any condition, with the exception of prostate cancer. Put together, there is convincing overall evidence that milk consumption is associated with an increase in survival in Western communities.”

The reviewers also believe that increased milk consumption is likely to reduce health care costs substantially due to reduced chronic disease and death.

Heart disease is responsible for 27 percent of all deaths in the United States and the number one killer worldwide.

For more information about surviving heart disease, please visit The Survivors Club Health Support Center.