August 3/Melbourne, Australia/Hindustan Times -- A new study claims that not only are dairy products harmless, they may even cut down risk of cardiovascular-related death.

The Australian study by Dr. Jolieke van der Pols from the Queensland Institute of Medical Research (QIMR) said that certain fats in dairy might be protective for cardiovascular disease.

"We found that people with the highest intake of full-fat dairy had 70% less chance of death by heart disease or stroke than those who had the lowest intake of full-fat dairy," van der Pols said.

"It is possible that milk fat may contain nutrients that counteract the expected negative effects of the saturated fat in dairy products," van der Pols added.

The study also found that total dairy intake had no correlation to death due to cancer or overall risk of death.

The paper will be published in European Journal of Clinical Nutrition.

From the August 16, 2010, Prepared Foods E-dition