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ARS Home » Pacific West Area » Davis, California » Western Human Nutrition Research Center » Immunity and Disease Prevention Research » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #406476
Research Project: Impact of Diet on Intestinal Microbiota, Gut Health and Immune Function

Location: Immunity and Disease Prevention Research

Title: No associations between dairy intake and markers of gastrointestinal inflammation in a healthy adult cohort

Author
item BOUZID, YASMINE - University Of California, Davis
item CHIN, ELIZABETH - University Of California, Davis
item SPEARMAN, SARAH - University Of California, Davis
item Alkan, Zeynep
item Stephensen, Charles
item Lemay, Danielle

Submitted to: Nutrients
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 8/7/2023
Publication Date: 8/8/2023
Citation: Bouzid, Y.Y., Chin, E.L., Spearman, S.S., Alkan, Z., Stephensen, C.B., Lemay, D.G. 2023. No associations between dairy intake and markers of gastrointestinal inflammation in a healthy adult cohort. Nutrients. 15(16):3504. https://doi.org/10.3390/nu15163504.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.3390/nu15163504

Interpretive Summary: Dairy intake has been shown to have neutral or beneficial associations with systemic inflammation but has not been investigated regarding gastrointestinal (GI) inflammation. We examined associations between recent and habitual intake of dairy products including total dairy, milk, cheese, and yogurt consumption with markers of GI inflammation. There were no significant associations of consumption of these foods with GI inflammation in a healthy adult cohort.

Technical Abstract: Dairy products are a good source of essential nutrients and past reviews have shown associations of dairy consumption with decreased systemic inflammation. Links between dairy intake and gas-trointestinal (GI) inflammation are under-investigated. Therefore, we examined associations be-tween reported dairy intake and markers of GI inflammation in healthy adults in a cross-sectional observational study, hypothesizing a negative association with yogurt intake, suggesting a protec-tive effect, and no associations with total dairy, fluid milk, and cheese intake. Participants com-pleted 24-hour dietary recalls and a food frequency questionnaire (FFQ) to assess recent and ha-bitual intake, respectively. Those who also provided a stool sample (n = 295), and plasma sample (n = 348) were included in analysis. Inflammation markers from stool, including calprotectin, ne-opterin, and myeloperoxidase were measured along with LPS-binding protein (LBP) from plasma. Regression models tested associations between dairy intake variables and inflammation markers with covariates: age, sex, and body mass index (BMI). As yogurt is episodically consumed, we examined differences in inflammation levels between consumers (>0 cup equivalents/day reported in recalls) and non-consumers. We found no significant associations between dairy intake and markers of GI inflammation. In this cohort of healthy adults, dairy intake was not associated with GI inflammation.