<p class="title">Drinking low-fat milk is associated with less ageing in adults, according to a new study which supports existing dietary guidelines which do not recommend high-fat milk as part of a healthy diet.</p>.<p class="bodytext">The study, published in the journal Oxidative Medicine and Cellular Longevity, assessed 5,834 US adults and found that people who drink low-fat milk experience biological ageing slower by several years than those who drink high-fat (2 per cent and whole) milk.</p>.<p class="bodytext">"It was surprising how strong the difference was. If you're going to drink high-fat milk, you should be aware that doing so is predictive of, or related to some significant consequences," said Larry Tucker, study co-author from Brigham Young University (BYU) in the US.</p>.<p class="bodytext">The researchers analysed the link between the length of the end of chromosomes -- the coiled structure in which DNA is present in cell nucleus -- milk intake frequency and fat content consumed.</p>.<p class="bodytext">According to the scientists, these chromosome ends, called telomeres, act as a biological clock, and they're correlated with age.</p>.<p class="bodytext">Each time a cell replicates, they said, humans lose a tiny bit of these end caps.</p>.<p class="bodytext">Hence older people have shorter telomeres, the researchers added.</p>.<p class="bodytext">The more high-fat milk people drink, the shorter their telomeres are, according to the BYU study.</p>.<p class="bodytext">According to the study, for every one per cent increase in milk fat consumed, telomeres were 69 units shorter in the adults studied.</p>.<p class="bodytext">This translated into more than four years in additional biological ageing, the researchers said.</p>.<p class="bodytext">In the extremes of milk drinkers, adults who consumed whole milk had telomeres that were a striking 145 molecules shorter than non-fat milk drinkers.</p>.<p class="bodytext">"Milk is probably the most controversial food in our country. If someone asked me to put together a presentation on the value of drinking milk, I could put together a 1-hour presentation that would knock your socks off," Tucker said.</p>.<p class="bodytext">"You'd think, 'Whoa, everybody should be drinking more milk.' If someone said to do the opposite, I could also do that. At the very least, the findings of this study are definitely worth pondering," he added.</p>.<p class="bodytext">The study also found that milk abstainers had shorter telomeres than adults who consumed low-fat milk. </p>
<p class="title">Drinking low-fat milk is associated with less ageing in adults, according to a new study which supports existing dietary guidelines which do not recommend high-fat milk as part of a healthy diet.</p>.<p class="bodytext">The study, published in the journal Oxidative Medicine and Cellular Longevity, assessed 5,834 US adults and found that people who drink low-fat milk experience biological ageing slower by several years than those who drink high-fat (2 per cent and whole) milk.</p>.<p class="bodytext">"It was surprising how strong the difference was. If you're going to drink high-fat milk, you should be aware that doing so is predictive of, or related to some significant consequences," said Larry Tucker, study co-author from Brigham Young University (BYU) in the US.</p>.<p class="bodytext">The researchers analysed the link between the length of the end of chromosomes -- the coiled structure in which DNA is present in cell nucleus -- milk intake frequency and fat content consumed.</p>.<p class="bodytext">According to the scientists, these chromosome ends, called telomeres, act as a biological clock, and they're correlated with age.</p>.<p class="bodytext">Each time a cell replicates, they said, humans lose a tiny bit of these end caps.</p>.<p class="bodytext">Hence older people have shorter telomeres, the researchers added.</p>.<p class="bodytext">The more high-fat milk people drink, the shorter their telomeres are, according to the BYU study.</p>.<p class="bodytext">According to the study, for every one per cent increase in milk fat consumed, telomeres were 69 units shorter in the adults studied.</p>.<p class="bodytext">This translated into more than four years in additional biological ageing, the researchers said.</p>.<p class="bodytext">In the extremes of milk drinkers, adults who consumed whole milk had telomeres that were a striking 145 molecules shorter than non-fat milk drinkers.</p>.<p class="bodytext">"Milk is probably the most controversial food in our country. If someone asked me to put together a presentation on the value of drinking milk, I could put together a 1-hour presentation that would knock your socks off," Tucker said.</p>.<p class="bodytext">"You'd think, 'Whoa, everybody should be drinking more milk.' If someone said to do the opposite, I could also do that. At the very least, the findings of this study are definitely worth pondering," he added.</p>.<p class="bodytext">The study also found that milk abstainers had shorter telomeres than adults who consumed low-fat milk. </p>