In a study published in the journal Applied Physiology, Nutrition, and Metabolism, medical investigators from CHU de Québec Research Center and Laval University tracked 233 French-Canadians and found those who ate between two and four servings of milk-based products — such as milk, yogurt, cheese, cream, and butter — each day were far less likely to develop the metabolic disorder than those who ate lower levels of such foods.  

The researchers suspect trans-palmitoleic acid — naturally present in milk, cheese, yogurt, butter, and meat fat — may be the culprit in the health-promoting effects. The study found higher levels of the acid was related to lower blood pressure and glucose in men and women, and to lower body weight in men. 

Iwona Rudkowska, M.D., a research scientist at the Endocrinology and Nephrology Department, at the CHU de Québec Research Center and assistant professor at Laval University, said the findings are promising, but added that “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.”