The science of saturated fats

The conference on saturated fats and dairy I went to last week had me thinking. After a day of proof that dairy does not have deleterious effects on cardiovascular health, the story behind the story is that there is an intrinsic issue with science. Science is never definitive by its very existence, and people always want definition. Scientists always seek to replicate what has occurred in a study, and then to add to it. The endpoint is always pushed further and may take years to find. This does not make for a good tale. In these days of instant blogging and tweeting, along with the cranks who espouse rubbish science, it can be a bit frustrating. Come ON, science! Go faster. That being said, I’d rather have a well-considered study basied on good science that takes years, than one delivered too quickly and travels around the internet, spreading misleading information.

Thus, the end results of the day were that there needs to be more study, and dairy proteins reduce hypertension. It also told us high dairy intake types what we already know – it’s good for lean mass gain. Drinking milk is also not associated with heart disease or stroke. We think it’s good for you, and the challenge now is to go out and find the conclusive proof. Which there never may be a definitive one, as nutrition is so complex.The more we learn, the less we know.

All in all, a very interesting conference and I applaud DairyCo and The Dairy Council for hosting these. More information is a good thing, and these results are encouraging.