Milk lipids and their nutritional importance

Abstract

Whole milk products are of particular nutritional interest, although current dietary recommendations have focused on reducing saturated fat consumption as a means of improving the overall health of the population. However, this chapter provides new scientific evidence on the potential benefits of dairy fat consumption. The high presence of short-chain fatty acids and thus medium-chain triacylglycerols, which are not associated with an increased risk of cardiovascular disease or obesity, along with a large diversity of bioactive lipid components, such as the presence of conjugated linoleic acid, together with milk fat globule membrane components, and fat-soluble vitamins, suggest that these nutritional recommendations need to be reappraised.