Harvey Anderson’s 12-week Canadian study found that three servings of full-fat dairy per day did not worsen body weight, body composition, energy metabolism, or blood lipids in 74 adults. The results add to evidence that low-fat dairy products may not be the only option for people told to limit dairy fat.
Harvey Anderson Study
The researchers randomly assigned 74 adults with overweight or obesity to three diet plans. One group followed a low-dairy, calorie-restricted diet. A second group followed an energy-neutral diet with three servings of dairy each day, and a third group ate an unrestricted diet with the same dairy intake. All participants received guidance on following Canada’s food guide.
After 12 weeks, the study found no meaningful differences in weight gain, body composition, or cholesterol levels between the low-dairy group and the groups eating three servings of dairy each day. Anderson said, "Those that had three servings of dairy didn't have adverse levels of blood cholesterol or lipids or evidence of insulin resistance."
University of Toronto Findings
The findings were published in The Journal of Nutrition. Anderson, a University of Toronto professor of nutritional sciences, said the work adds to growing evidence that full-fat dairy can fit within a healthy diet. Participants eating more dairy also consumed more calcium, protein, and vitamin D, and they showed improvements in blood pressure.
Those results run against long-standing dietary advice in Canada and many other countries that has typically encouraged fat-free or low-fat dairy products to reduce saturated fat intake. The study did not show that three daily servings of full-fat dairy raised blood lipid levels over 12 weeks, which is the point where older guidance has usually drawn the line.
Temerty Medicine View
Temerty Medicine professor Kozeta Milliku was among the researchers tied to the study, which Anderson said may fit the dairy matrix hypothesis. He described dairy foods as containing two proteins, casein and whey, bound together with fat and mixed nutrients, a structure he said may allow nutrients to be delivered more gradually to the body.
For adults who have been told to avoid full-fat dairy, the practical takeaway is narrow but direct: this study does not support treating three servings a day as harmful over 12 weeks. What it does not settle is which specific full-fat dairy products were given to the participants.
