Have you heard the new guidelines around fat and dairy products, released by the Heart Foundation? It’s good news. Especially for cheese lovers!
Following a review of Australian and International research, The Heart foundation has revised its guidelines, which previously recommended we avoid full fat dairy products, due to their saturated fat content.
According to current evidence and expert opinion, full-fat dairy products don’t appear to increase healthy people’s risk of heart disease or stroke. It’s big news! And that means that unless you already have high cholesterol, heart disease or diabetes, you can enjoy regular milk, cheese and yoghurt as part of a healthy diet.
Of note though: Although butter and ice cream are dairy products, experts categorise these foods separately from milk, cheese and yoghurt. Why? Because of their very different nutrient make up and ingredients, that appear more problematic for our blood lipid profile and heart disease risk. Sorry, but it’s not open slather on cooking everything in butter, or going to town on ice cream in the name of heart health!
Another recommendation is that even unprocessed red meat (beef, lamb, pork and veal) should be limited to 3 meals or 350g a week. Processed meats, as per previous guidelines, are still recommended to be eaten sparingly, due to a consistent heart disease and other chronic health conditions.
