Almost 30,000 middle-aged and older women participated in the study. Their diets were examined and the researchers found that those women who had diets of two servings daily of low-fat dairy products and higher calcium and vitamin D intake from foods were protected against hypertension by almost 11 percent. The same was not found for those who take higher fat milk products or calcium and vitamin D supplements.
"We found an inverse association between low-fat dairy product intake and the subsequent risk of hypertension," the researchers said. "The association was moderate, graded, and independent of known risk factors for hypertension."
It is unclear why high-fat dairy products lack effect on hypertension but studies on low-fat dairy products being beneficial to type 2 diabetes, metabolic syndrome and even cardiovascular disease remains the same.
