Are dairy fats good or bad?

Fat is an essential component of a healthy diet as it is needed for a number of processes within the body including brain function, cell structure and absorption of important vitamins. Viewing dairy fats as either ‘good’ or ‘bad’ does not take into consideration that we consume foods rather than single nutrients.

Dairy fats are usually consumed with a matrix of other nutrients in foods such as milk, yogurt and cheese. In addition, dairy fat has a complex composition, made up of many different varieties of fat; for example, 100 ml whole milk consists of approximately 2.3 % saturated fat, 1 % mono-unsaturated fat and 0.1 % poly-unsaturated fat. Therefore, due to their complex composition, their impact on health is more dependent on how much is consumed and from which food. Given that fat is high in calories however, the dietary guidelines still advise people to choose low-fat dairy products.