Milk fat and health consequences

Abstract

Dairy foods are widely recommended as part of a healthy diet mainly because of the ready availability of calcium but also because they are a good source of protein, minerals and fat soluble vitamins. On the other hand, dairy foods have been viewed with suspicion by many because dairy fats contain saturated fatty acids and cholesterol. It has been thought, particularly by consumers, that dairy fats may increase the risk of coronary heart disease because of the contribution they make to total saturated fat intake. However, dairy fats contain other lipid bioactives (e.g. omega-3 fatty acids, gangliosides, conjugated linoleic acid) that may counteract the effect of saturates in a well balanced diet. Surprisingly, there have been few studies that have addressed this issue.