Butter on bread linked to high risk of myocardial infarction

A new study recently published in Journal of Nutrition suggests that eating butter on bread can incr…

A new study recently published in Journal of Nutrition suggests that eating butter on bread can increase risk of myocardial infarction or heart attack - a leading
death cause in the United States.

E. Patterson of Nutritional Epidemiology, Institute of Environmental Medicine, Karolinska Institutet in Stockholm, Sweden and colleagues found those in highest quintile of intake of butter used on bread were 34 percent more likely to suffer myocardial infarction, compared with those in the lowest quintile. 

It remains unclear whether consumption of dairy foods, particularly specific foods would affect the risk of cardiovascular disease, specifically myocardial infarction, according to the authors. Patterson et al. followed 33,636 women aged 48 to 83 who were free of cardiovascular disease, cancer and diabetes at baseline in 1997 when participating in the Swedish Mammography Cohort.

For the study, all participants were surveyed through a validated self-administered food frequency questionnaire at baseline for their consumption of milk, cultured milk/yogurt, cheese, crème fraiche, butter and cream. During 11.6 years of follow-up, 1392 cases of myocardial infarction were ascertained.

Overall, women in the highest quintile of intake of total dairy foods were 23 percent less likely to suffer myocardial infarction, compared with those in the lowest quintile.

Specifically, the highest quintile of intake of total cheese was associated with 26 percent reduced risk of mycardial infarction, compared with the lowest quintile of intake while the highest quintile of intake of butter used on bread but not used for cooking was associated with 34 percent increased risk, compared with the lowest quintile.

Consumption of other specific dairy foods was not associated with myocardial risk significantly and specific low-fat and high fat dairy foods did not make any significant difference in the association with myocardial infarction.

The researchers suggest that dietary guidelines need to consider diary foods as a heterogeneous group in future studies so that the guidelines can be most relevant.