We definitely should! Over the recent years with many different diets coming along dairy has been portrayed as the bad guy. Many are turning away from dairy. Of course, it is understandable if you are intolerant to dairy products, then, yes please stay away. If not read on.

Eating at least two daily servings of dairy ( milk, cheese and yoghurt)is associated with lower risks of diabetes and high blood pressure, as well as many factors responsible for metabolic syndrome (MetS) according to a large international study published online in BMJ Open Diabetes Research & Care. And surprisingly, the benefits are stronger using full fat dairy compared to non fat.

The Prospective Urban Rural Epidemiology (PURE) study in this paper was a prospective epidemiological study of individuals aged 35 and 70 years from 21 different countries including Argentina, Bangladesh, Brazil, Canada, Chile, China, Colombia, India, Iran, Malaysia, occupied Palestine territory, Pakistan, Philippines, Poland, South Africa, Saudi Arabia, Sweden, Tanzania, Turkey, United Arab Emirates, and Zimbabwe.

For this study usual dietary intake over the previous 12 months was assessed by means of Food Frequency Questionnaires in a total of 153 220 participants. Health of the participants was assessed for nine years. Dairy products included milk, yogurt, yogurt drinks, cheese and dishes prepared with dairy products, and were classified as full or low fat (1-2%). Butter and cream were assessed separately as these are not commonly eaten in some of the countries studied.

Information on personal medical history, use of prescription medicines, educational attainment, smoking and measurements of weight, height, waist circumference, blood pressure and fasting blood glucose were also collected.

The MetS was determined based on five component factors: (1) elevated blood pressure, (2) elevated waist circumference, (3) low HDL-C), (4) elevated blood triglycerides, and (5) elevated fasting blood glucose. Participants with at least three of the following five component factors were classified as having MetS at baseline. 46, 667 people of the total participants had metabolic syndrome—defined as having at least 3 of the 5 components.

Total dairy and full fat dairy, but not low fat dairy, were associated with a lower prevalence of most components of metabolic syndrome.

At least 2 servings a day of total dairy were associated with a 24% lower risk of metabolic syndrome and a 11-12% lower risk of both high blood pressure and diabetes, rising to a 13-14% lower risk for 3 daily servings. The associations were stronger for full fat than they were for low fat dairy.

Take Home: In addition to being packed with nutrients such as calcium, phosphorus, magnesium, potassium, iodine and vitamin B12 it turns out dairy and full fat no less has been suggested to have favorable effect on metabolic syndrome including high blood pressure and diabetes. So next time do not hesitate to grab that glass full of whole milk goodness.