A Washington State University research professor, Charles Benbrook, and his team on Monday released a study finding that organic whole milk has more omega-3 fatty acids, beneficial for the heart, than conventional milk. The study is the first large-scale nationwide study of the fatty acids in organic and conventional milk. Scientists looked at 220 organic milk samples from the Organic Valley cooperative and 164 conventional milk samples.
At issue is the ratio between omega-3 and omega-6 fatty acids found in organic versus conventional milk. Omega-3 is the fatty acid most needed for heart health, and overall health, with omega-6 (and omega-9) being less beneficial.
In the modern American diet, the use of soybean and corn oil in fried and processed foods, and the amounts we eat of these types of food, have dramatically increased the intake of omega-6 and -9, and decreased the intake of omega-3.
Conventional milk had an average omega-6 to omega-3 fatty acid ratio of 5.8, and organic milk had a ratio of 2.3. Organic milk had 25% less omega-6 fatty acids and 62% more omega-3 fatty acids than conventional milk. The organic milk also had high concentrations of the individual types of omega-3 fatty acids, too, the authors wrote.
The study “provides consumers with some pretty powerful evidence that choosing full-fat dairy products is going to help bring about a greater degree of balance” between omega-3 and omega-6 fatty acids, said Benbrook, lead author of the study at the Center for Sustaining Agriculture and Natural Resources at Washington State University.
Increasing full-fat organic dairy products alone won’t make you heart-healthy, the authors point out. That and eating less food containing vegetable oil may, however, by dramatically improving the diet’s omega-6 to omega-3 ratio.