Full cream milk is back

GOODBYE paleo diet and hello full cream milk. The Heart Foundation has some good and bad news in its revamped dietary statement.

The first revision in the rules since 2013 calls for restrictions on red meat but lifts the ban on full fat milk products for healthy people.

After a major review of the latest dietary evidence the Heart Foundation is also removing its old limit of seven eggs a week for healthy people. The bad news is if you already have heart disease or diabetes the restrictions on eggs and full fat milk still apply.

And it you are a fan of the paleo diet you should know it’s not necessarily good for your heart health and the new rules say it’s safer to consume less than 350g of unprocessed red meats like beef, lamb, pork and veal each week.

“There is no evidence of harm from eating 50g of red meat a day but beyond that there is a tendency for increased amounts to contribute to weight gain and cholesterol,” Heart Foundation chief medical adviser Professor Garry Jennings said.

The foundation said studies also red flagged eating processed meats which are high in salt, fat and nitrates and have been associated with cancer as well as adverse effects on heart health.

Professor Jennings said the organisation regularly reviewed its diet advice to make sure it was still current.

“We focused on the three most controversial areas – dairy, meat and eggs and when we reviewed the evidence we couldn’t find anything that said eggs did harm,” he said.

The data on milk showed full fat milk had comparatively low fat levels anyway, it contains only 4 per cent fat and there was little difference with low-fat milk.

There was also evidence that fermented milk products like yoghurt and cheese had a positive effect, he said.