An update on the cardiovascular pleiotropic effects of milk and milk products

Hypertension is a major risk factor in addition to atherosclerosis and type 2 diabetes mellitus for the development of coronary heart disease and strokes. Several prospective clinical studies have demonstrated a possible protective effect of milk and dairy product consumption on these conditions. The putative effects of milk and dairy products are possibly mediated through their mineral content of calcium, magnesium, potassium, and vitamin D. These dairy substances exercise their blood pressure-lowering effect either directly on the arterial wall by these minerals or indirectly through blockade of the angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE) by the amino acids contained in the casein and whey of milk. The blockade of ACE results in the inhibition of production of angiotensin II, a potent vasoconstrictive peptide, and the prevention of degradation of bradykinin, a potent vasodilating peptide. For this concise review, a Medline search of the English language literature was conducted from 2006 to September 2012 and 16 pertinent papers were selected. The potential beneficial pleiotropic effects from these studies together with collateral literature will be discussed in this review.