A diet rich in dairy fat may be linked to a lower risk of cardiovascular disease, researchers say.

They recorded 578 incident cardiovascular disease events and 676 deaths, noting that cardiovascular disease risk was lower among those with higher intakes of dairy fat than compared with low intakes and that higher intakes were not associated with an increased risk of death.

Instead, we measured blood levels of certain fatty acids, or fat ‘building blocks,’ that are found in dairy foods, which gives a more objective measure of dairy fat intake that doesn’t rely on memory or the quality of food databases," Dr.

The broader analysis also linked higher dairy fat consumption to a lower risk of cardiovascular disease, creating what the George Institute deemed the "most comprehensive evidence to date on the relationship between this more objective measure of dairy fat consumption, risk of cardiovascular disease and death."

"Increasing evidence suggests that the health impact of dairy foods may be more dependent on the type – such as cheese, yogurt, milk, and butter – rather than the fat content, which has raised doubts if avoidance of dairy fats overall is beneficial for cardiovascular health," lead author Dr

However, the study notes that it has limitations, including the inability of biomarkers to determine different types of dairy foods and that most studies in meta-analysis assessed biomarkers at the baseline which "may increase the risk of misclassification of exposure levels."