Just about every piece of dietary advice you can find recommends low-fat or non-fat dairy. But a growing number of experts are arguing that it's healthier to eat and drink dairy products with all the fat left in.
The fat in dairy foods is roughly 50 to 60 percent saturated fat, but the idea that this is bad for your heart may be nothing more than a mistaken interpretation of the science. In a 2010 analysis, scientists said:
"...There is no significant evidence for concluding that dietary saturated fat is associated with an increased risk of [coronary heart disease or cardiovascular disease]."
What's more, according to dLife:
"If only half of dairy fat is the saturated kind, what kind is the rest? Dairy fat contains lots of oleic acid (the stuff that makes olive oil so healthy), along with a type of fat called conjugated linoleic acid (CLA) that may help with weight loss. Recent studies strongly suggest that something -- possibly the CLA -- in dairy fat does indeed help with weight management."
