New Study Reaffirms the Health Benefits of Dairy

Low-fat milk and dairy products are often recommended over their higher fat counterparts. If you're looking to lose weight and improve your health, for example, you may assume that drinking fat-free (skim) or 2% fat milk is better than drinking full-fat milk. With fat free milk containing no saturated fat and 2% milk containing just a small amount of saturated fat, conventional wisdom suggests that these are healthier alternatives to full-fat milk. However, there's new evidence showing that this isn't the case.

A new study presented during at the European Society of Cardiology found that people who consumed full-fat dairy products were actually less likely to die from all causes, including heart disease, than people who consumed little or no full-fat dairy. What does this mean exactly? It means that full-fat dairy is not necessarily healthier than fat-free or low-fat dairy. You can include it in your regular diet without fear of it taking a toll on your health.

"The consumption of dairy products has long been thought to increase the risk of death, particularly from coronary heart disease, cerebrovascular disease and cancer, because of dairy’s relatively high levels of saturated fat. Yet evidence for any such link, especially among U.S. adults, is inconsistent," wrote the study's authors.

The U.S. dietary guidelines recommend that men consume about 30 grams of saturated fat per day and women consume about 20 grams. But many people are guilty of consuming far more than these recommended limits. When accounting for breakfast, lunch, dinner and in-between-meal snacks, it's easy to consume twice this amount. The good news is that excess saturated fat may not be as bad for your health as previously though.

This study suggests that eating saturated fat -- at least from dairy products -- may actually lower your risk of chronic disease and early death. Even with these findings, though, it's still best to err on the side of caution by limiting your consumption of saturated fat. Consuming too much of anything can be bad for your health, and saturated fat is no exception. Follow the USDA's guidelines by consuming no more than 20 or 30 grams of saturated fat, depending on your gender.

Keep in mind that saturated fat is found in a variety of foods. In addition to milk, cheese and other dairy products, it's often found in red meat. Both beef and pork, for example, contain high concentrations of saturated fat.