Glass of low-fat milk can slow down the aging process

Whole milk speeds up the biological clock

Want to live longer, drink low-fat milk. You can live over 4 years longer according to a new study by switching to either fat free or 1% milk.

Research on 5,834 U.S. adults by Brigham Young University exercise science professor Larry Tucker, Ph.D., found people who drink low-fat milk experience several years less biological aging than those who drink high-fat (2% and whole) milk.

“It was surprising how strong the difference was,” Tucker said. “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.”

Tucker looked at how milk changes the part of human chromosomes that regulate ageing. Ends of human chromosomes get shorter each time a cell splits. The decreasing length act like a biological clock related to ageing.

Apparently, those chromosome endcaps get shorter the more people drink high-fat milk.

For every 1% increase in milk fat consumed (drinking 2% vs. 1% milk), resulted in more than four years in additional biological aging.

What’s worse, drinking pure whole milk nearly doubled the effects resulting in 8 years of aging compared to non-fat milk drinkers.


About the Author:

After covering the weather from every corner of Florida and doing marine research in the Gulf, Mark Collins settled in Jacksonville to forecast weather for The First Coast.