Grant: Doctoral Research Award: Canada Graduate Scholarships

Dairy products are important sources of vitamins, minerals, and other beneficial molecules. Human research shows that dairy products can be anti-inflammatory and improve other markers of health. Inflammation levels can become elevated after eating a high-fat, high-sugar meal (common in our Westernized society). Repeated spikes in inflammation and other negative consequences that follow multiple `unhealthy' meals can be harmful as they are linked to the development of chronic diseases such as cardiovascular disease and diabetes. There is a need for additional studies that examine the effects of long-term dairy consumption on inflammation following a meal as we believe that dairy foods can help reduce these negative health effects. Our proposed project will show whether increased dairy intake improves health measures both after an overnight fast and following the consumption of a high-fat meal. We will recruit at least 30 participants with overweight/obesity who are low dairy consumers (0-1 servings/day). Participants will complete two 6-week diet interventions in a random order: 1) high-dairy consumption (> 3 servings/day); 2) low-dairy consumption (<1 serving/day) separated by at least 4 weeks. Prior to and at the end of each 6-week diet intervention, we will assess blood markers (e.g., inflammation, fat, sugar, bone), muscle tissue markers, and body composition (phase 1). At the end of each 6-week trial, participants will have the same measurements taken for up to 6-hours after they consume a high-fat breakfast meal (phase 2). We believe that increasing dairy (and thus the important anti-inflammatory and antioxidant nutrients that they contain) will improve these health-related measures and reduce the immediate negative changes that follow a high-fat meal. Our proposed research will help to improve people's perceptions of the benefits of dairy products on human health, and thereby potentially increase intakes of a variety of nutritious Canadian dairy products.