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Review
. 2021 Jan 7;18(1):7.
doi: 10.1186/s12986-020-00527-y.

Milk consumption and multiple health outcomes: umbrella review of systematic reviews and meta-analyses in humans

Xingxia Zhang  1   2 , Xinrong Chen  1   2 , Yujie Xu  3 , Jie Yang  2 , Liang Du  4 , Ka Li  5   6 , Yong Zhou  7
Affiliations
Review

Milk consumption and multiple health outcomes: umbrella review of systematic reviews and meta-analyses in humans

Xingxia Zhang et al. Nutr Metab (Lond). .

Abstract

In order to recapitulate the best available evidence of milk consumption and multiple health-related outcomes, we performed an umbrella review of meta-analyses and systematic reviews in humans. Totally, 41 meta-analyses with 45 unique health outcomes were included. Milk consumption was more often related to benefits than harm to a sequence of health-related outcomes. Dose-response analyses indicated that an increment of 200 ml (approximately 1 cup) milk intake per day was associated with a lower risk of cardiovascular disease, stroke, hypertension, colorectal cancer, metabolic syndrome, obesity and osteoporosis. Beneficial associations were also found for type 2 diabetes mellitus and Alzheimer's disease. Conversely, milk intake might be associated with higher risk of prostate cancer, Parkinson's disease, acne and Fe-deficiency anaemia in infancy. Potential allergy or lactose intolerance need for caution. Milk consumption does more good than harm for human health in this umbrella review. Our results support milk consumption as part of a healthy diet. More well-designed randomized controlled trials are warranted.

Keywords: Health; Meta-analysis; Milk; Systematic review; Umbrella review.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare that they have no competing interests.

Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
Flowchart of the selection process
Fig. 2
Fig. 2
Map of outcomes associated with milk consumption
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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