Turn back the clock and drink a pint of milk a day for health!

A pint of milk a day could be back in fashion again following the results of a new study which says dairy foods can protect against metabolic syndrome.

Metabolic syndrome is a term for a range of medical disorders which are thought to increase the risk for cardiovascular disease.

The syndrome which is sometimes called insulin resistance, impacts the body's metabolism by increasing cholesterol, blood glucose levels, body fat and blood pressure which in turn can lead to heart disease, stroke and type 2 diabetes.

Scientists at Cardiff University in Wales led by Professor Peter Elwood tracked the health of 2,400 men aged between 45 and 59 over a 25 year period; all the men filled in a food questionnaire, kept weekly food diaries, and recorded the amount of dairy products they ate.

It appeared that the men who regularly drank milk and ate dairy products - such as yogurt and cheese - were significantly less likely to have the syndrome.

The scientists found in fact that if the men had consumed a pint or more of milk every day they were 62 per cent less likely to have the syndrome- and 56 per cent less likely to have it if they regularly ate other dairy produce.

It appeared that the more dairy produce the men had consumed, the less likely were they to have the syndrome.

Professor Elwood says though milk consumption has fallen in the UK during the past 25 years the data suggests that milk and dairy products 'fit well into a healthy eating pattern'."

The study known as the Caerphilly Prospective Study found that around one in seven men (15 per cent) had metabolic syndrome at the start of the project and almost double the risk of coronary artery heart disease and four times the risk of diabetes of those without the syndrome.

They were also almost 50 per cent more likely to die early.

Professor Elwood says metabolic syndrome has been termed 'the deadly quartet' and is thought to be the fastest growing disease in the world.

The scientists say the study results are powerful but contrary to the public perception that milk and other dairy products are bad for the heart.

They say the findings are the latest in over 300 publications from the prospective study which all indicate the same message and evidence suggests the same effect is found in women.

The research is published in the Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health.