Full-fat dairy shows benefits without raising body fat or cholesterol, study finds

by Betty Zou, University of Toronto

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A Canadian study led by University of Toronto researcher Harvey Anderson is offering new evidence in support of consuming full-fat dairy. The findings, published recently in the Journal of Nutrition, demonstrate that three daily servings of full-fat dairy can be incorporated into a person's diet without negatively affecting their body weight or composition, energy metabolism or blood lipid levels.

For the study, 74 adults with overweight or obesity were randomly assigned to one of three diets that featured full-fat dairy products: low-dairy, calorie-restriction; energy-neutral with three daily servings of dairy; or unrestricted with three daily servings of dairy. They were also advised to follow Canada's food guide.

After 12 weeks, the researchers did not observe meaningful differences in weight gain, body composition or cholesterol levels between the participants who followed a low-dairy diet and those who consumed three daily servings of dairy. On the other hand, participants who ate more dairy saw improvements in blood pressure and had higher intake of calcium, protein and vitamin D.

"Those who had three servings of dairy didn't have adverse levels of blood cholesterol or lipids or evidence of insulin resistance," says Anderson, a professor of nutritional sciences in U of T's Temerty Faculty of Medicine.

Dietary guidelines in Canada and around the world have traditionally recommended fat-free or low-fat dairy foods to reduce saturated fat intake, which contributes to high cholesterol and increased risk of cardiovascular disease.

However, Anderson says numerous human studies have found no association between full-fat dairy consumption and negative health outcomes. In fact, some studies—including recent research led by Kozeta Miliku, an assistant professor at Temerty Medicine—have also reported positive (protective) effects related to dairy intake.

Anderson and other researchers suggest the disagreement between the harms expected from saturated fats in dairy and the reported neutral or positive effects from human studies could be explained by the dairy matrix hypothesis: the physical structure of dairy foods affects how the nutrients within are digested and how they impact the body.

"With dairy products, it's got two proteins—casein and whey—that are bound together with fat and with nutrients mixed in," Anderson says, adding that it's this unique and complex physical structure that is responsible for the slow and steady delivery of nutrients from dairy products, and that expands their health impacts to more than just the sum of the isolated nutrients.

Anderson notes that the study's findings are especially relevant for older people who have lower energy needs overall and may therefore have difficulty getting sufficient protein and nutrients. He says that for many older adults, dairy products are a familiar and energy- and nutrient-dense option to help meet their nutritional needs without increasing their risk of diabetes and other chronic diseases.

More broadly, the study highlights the importance of approaching nutritional sciences research and dietary guidelines through a whole food lens instead of focusing on single nutrients.

Faced with constantly changing trends in food and nutrition and sometimes conflicting messaging around diet, Anderson's advice is straightforward: "Keep it simple, eat a variety of foods and not too much of anything."

Publication details

Gerald Harvey Anderson et al, The Effect of Three Daily Servings of Full-Fat Dairy for 12 Weeks on Body Weight, Body Composition, Energy Metabolism, Blood Lipids, and Dietary Intake of Adults with Overweight and Obesity, The Journal of Nutrition (2026). DOI: 10.1016/j.tjnut.2026.101373

Journal information: Journal of Nutrition

Key medical concepts

Blood PressureOverweight and obesity

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Nutrition & Healthy eatingHealthy living Provided by University of Toronto Who's behind this story?

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