The metabolic syndrome (MeS) is a cluster of risk factors associated with a 2-3-fold increased risk of cardiovascular disease (CVD) and a 5-fold increased risk of type 2 diabetes (T2D). The risk factors included in the MeS are abdominal obesity, dyslipidemia, elevated blood pressure, and hyperglycemia.

MeS and lifestyle (incl. dietary patterns) are closely associated. Dairy products are a valuable source of nutrients, vitamins, and minerals; however, the health-related aspects of dairy product consumption are widely discussed, especially due to the nature of the lipid content. Dairy lipids are rich in saturated fatty acids (SFA) and intake of SFAs is associated with increased risk of CVD. The Danish Health and Medicines Authority recommend that the daily amount of energy intake from SFA does not exceed 10 E%.

In general, SFAs may increase LDL cholesterol when replacing carbohydrate or other dietary fatty acids; however, it is observed that dairy fat intake concomitantly increase HDL cholesterol, keeping the HDL:LDL ratio unchanged.

Observational studies find no clear association between risk of T2D and CVD and dairy products consumption, although dairy products are rich in SFA. This may be due to several different components within the dairy products, but we must keep in mind that dairy lipids are a structurally heterogeneous group. Interestingly, dairy lipids are rich in medium-chain SFA (MC-SFA) (chain length C6-C12), whereas SFA in e.g. meat mainly consist of long-chain SFA (LC-SFA) (chain length >C12). MC-SFA and LC-SFA differ with regards to absorption, transportation, and degradation. Meta-analyses conclude that consumption of MC-SFAs reduces body fat and body weight compared with consumption of LC-SFAs, probably due to increased energy expenditure. Our recent results from an intervention study corroborate the beneficial effect of MC-SFA on body composition. Furthermore, a recent observational study found an inverse association between the consumption of MC-SFAs and T2D.