Since dairy products are important contributors to saturated fat in the Western diet, the general recommendation is reduction in intake of high-fat dairy products. However, the effects of dairy products on cardiovascular disease risk is still unclear. In a meta-analysis of studies examining biomarkers of dairy fat measured in blood, a decreased risk of cardiovascular disease was showed with high concentrations of these markers. By using a genetic variant for lactase persistence as a proxy for milk intake, the causal relationship between milk consumption and health outcomes can be obtained, which is unlikely affected by confounding factors. The T allele indexing greater milk intake has been shown to associate with higher BMI, but lower LDL and HDL cholesterol concentrations. In addition, carriers of the T allele had 14% lower risk of coronary artery disease. Since dairy products possess different characteristics, it is important to examined them separately for disease risk. In meta-analyses, fermented milk and cheese has been shown to be associated with a reduced risk of cardiovascular disease. For example, among 26,445 individuals from the Swedish Malmö Diet and Cancer cohort, consumption of dairy products was inversely associated with risk of cardiovascular disease. Among the specific dairy products, a protective relationship was observed only for fermented milk. High fermented milk intakes were associated with healthier food habits in our study, e.g., higher intake of fruit, vegetables, whole grains and fish. Therefore, it may be difficult to separate out the effect of fermented milk intake from the entire lifestyle and food pattern. In addition, the impact of dairy foods may be more pronounced in different dietary contexts. The results suggests that it is important to examine dairy products separately, especially fermented and non-fermented milk products, when investigating their health effects. 

The worldwide, increasing incidences of lifestyle-related diseases such as metabolic syndrome, hypertension and obesity call for a better understanding of how to design novel foods targeted at counter-acting dietary contribution to disease risk. Evidence has emerged that the postprandial responses are especially fundamental for understanding how the diet contributes to development of lifestyle-related diseases such as the metabolic syndrome. The Dairymat project evaluated the relationship between the food matrix of dairy products and bioavailability/uptake of nutrients and metabolic responses. The objective was to obtain an understanding of how uptake of lipids was affected by modifications of the dairy structure and texture in iso-energetic meals of similar macronutrient composition.The project presented a novel and new interdisciplinary initiative, where the relations between structural attributes of dairy food matrices on lipaemia were explored. Four dairy products including cheddar cheese as a reference were produced with differences in the dairy matrix such as alterations related to texture (solid, semisolid, or liquid), the protein network and/or lipid droplet size. The impact of these four dairy products on 8-hour postprandial lipaemia and the uptake of nutrients were examined in a human randomized cross-over meal study with integrated metabolomics studies to enable a detailed characterization of the kinetics of the postprandial absorption and interlinked pathways regulating the postprandial metabolic response. Results showed that consumption of dairy products with different matrices affected the postprandial response of both triglycerides and free fatty acids, but not apolipoprotein B48, when isoenergetic and macronutrient-matched meals were served. Similar observations were found by in vitro digestion of the four dairy products. Thus, metabolomic analyses using liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry revealed differences in plasma levels of specific lyso-phosphatidylethanolamines and lyso-phasphatidylcholines between the dairy products. In conclusion, the dairy matrix affects the postprandial lipid response, which may affect risk factors for cardiovascular diseases.