Dairy and its composition
Naturally nutrient-rich at every stage of life
Milk and dairy are naturally nutrient-rich foods. While they provide relatively few calories, they offer a whole range of essential nutrients (e.g. high-quality proteins) and make a significant contribution to the daily nutrient intakes for many vitamins and minerals.
Dairy nutrient-rich profile contributes to a good development and functioning of the body and health maintenance across all life stages.
High-quality dairy protein
Consuming dairy products as part of a healthy and balanced diet is an affordable way of contributing to fulfilling dietary requirements for protein.
Dairy products such as milk, yoghurt and cheese are good sources of essential nutrients, including high-quality proteins crucial for many bodily functions.
Additionally, proteins from animal sources, such as dairy protein, contain all essential amino acids and are therefore considered to be highly digestible and of high quality – up to 10-30% higher biological quality than vegetable sourced proteins.
Dairy proteins play an important role in bone health, muscle growth and sports nutrition and some studies have shown that they might be beneficial for weight management.
The benefits of dairy protein have also been studied in the context of ageing processes and non-communicable diseases.
Lactose: dairy’s natural sugar
Dairy products contain lactose, a naturally present intrinsic sugar which is incorporated within the structure of milk.
Lactose is a source of energy, and it is particularly important in infancy (naturally present in breast milk). Lactose may also contribute to the absorption and retention of minerals and act as a prebiotic. In contrast to added sugars like sucrose, lactose results only in a small increase in blood sugar levels.
For more information, read our Q&A on lactose intolerance
The unique composition of milk fat
Dairy fat is the most complex fat source of human diet – it contains nearly 400 different fatty acids, many of them unique to dairy.
Dairy contains not only different fatty acids but is also a major source of high-quality proteins (whey and casein), many vitamins, minerals and much more.
Milk, cheese and yoghurt and other low- and regular-fat dairy products are part of a healthy and balanced diet as indicated in national dietary guidelines in all European countries.
There is considerable evidence that the health effects of saturated fat vary depending on the specific fatty acid and on the specific food source. This can be explained by interactions between the structure of a food and the nutrient content of a product which influences the whole digestion and absorption process.
For more information, read our Factsheets on milk fat and trans-fatty acids.