Dairy foods contain essential nutrients and have proven health benefits, which is why The Australian Dietary Guidelines recommend eating dairy foods every day - including both regular and reduced fat varieties.¹

When it comes to individual nutrients such as fat, we eat them as part of a whole food, so it's important to look at the total benefits of that food and the presence of other essential nutrients. In the case of dairy foods, the presence of nutrients such as calcium, protein, vitamins and other minerals work together to promote positive health.

There is substantial scientific evidence to show, unlike saturated fat from other animal products, consumption of saturated fat from dairy foods is not associated with the risk of heart disease.² This is because when nutrients such as dairy fat are eaten as part of the whole food, they work together with other essential nutrients and bioactive components to affect your overall health, rather than how you would expect them to act as nutrients on their own.

Eating enough dairy foods such as milk, cheese and yoghurt has been linked to a reduced risk of heart disease, stroke, hypertension, type 2 diabetes, colorectal cancer and the metabolic syndrome. Dairy foods also promote good bone and dental health.¹

The Heart Foundation of Australia have recently updated their guidelines on dairy and heart healthy eating and advise that for the general population, full fat dairy products can be enjoyed every day as part of a healthy diet.³

References

1. National Health and Medical Research Council. Australian Dietary Guidelines, Canberra: Commonwealth of Australia; 2013

2. Chen M et al. Dairy fat and risk of cardiovascular disease in 3 cohorts of US adults. Am J Clin Nutr. 2016 Nov;104(5):1209-1217

3. Heart Foundation of Australia. Dietary Position Statement – Dairy and Heart Healthy Eating. Accessed 16.09.2019