Say cheese! Dairy products good for health

Consuming dairy products is good for health and can also reduce the risk of metabolic diseases such as obesity and type 2 diabetes, new research shows.

Dietary guidelines recommend the daily consumption of 2-4 portions of milk-based products such as milk, yogurt, cheese, cream and butter.

"Additional well designed intervention studies are needed to ascertain the effects of increased dairy consumption on metabolic health in healthy and in metabolically deteriorated populations," said Iwona Rudkowska, scientist at the endocrinology and nephrology department in the CHU de Quebec Research Center.

To study the link between dairy intake and specific metabolic risks in a healthy population, researchers studied the dairy eating habits of 233 healthy French-Canadians.

They also monitored how dairy consumption may have an effect on their overall metabolic health.

They findings appeared in the journal Applied Physiology, Nutrition and Metabolism.