- Those who were allergic to milk; those who had a history of digestive disorder; those with a medical history of cardiovascular diseases, including coronary artery diseases, valvular heart diseases, heart failure, or stroke; those who had cancer in the past 5 years; those who were taking hypoglycemic agents for diabetes mellitus; those who had chronic disease such as renal failure or liver cirrhosis; and those with a hemoglobin A1c (HbA1c) level ≥ 7% were excluded from the research. People who had a weight change > 5% of the total weight within the past 3 months, those who had started taking or had changed their dose of anti-hypertensive agents or medications for dyslipidemia within the previous 1 month, those who had a newly diagnosed dyslipidemia requiring drug treatment, those who had taken steroids either orally or by injection within the previous 3 months, those who were pregnant or were expecting to become pregnant; and those who regularly consumed milk in quantities ≥ 200 mL per day at least 3 times a week on average were also excluded.