Men who regularly consume milk, cheese and yogurt may be less likely to develop a cluster of risk factors for diabetes and heart disease, a study suggests.

Researchers found that among nearly 2,400 middle-aged British men, those who drank at least a pint of milk per day were 62 percent less likely than men who rarely drank milk to have metabolic syndrome. A similar pattern emerged when the researchers looked at overall intake of milk, cheese and yogurt.

Metabolic syndrome refers to a group of risk factors for heart disease and type 2 diabetes. The components include high blood pressure, elevated blood sugar levels, abdominal obesity, high blood levels of triglycerides (a type of fat) and low blood levels of "good" cholesterol.

The new findings point to an association between dairy foods and the odds of having metabolic syndrome, but do not confirm that consumption of these foods prevent the syndrome.

However, other research has tied regular milk drinking to lower blood pressure, which may help explain its connection to metabolic syndrome, lead study author Dr. Peter C. Elwood told Reuters Health.

Some other evidence, he added, links dairy foods to better weight control.

Another larger clinical trial found that dairy foods significantly protected against the development of the metabolic syndrome.

All of this suggests that at the least, dairy products "fit well" into a healthy diet, Elwood and his colleagues at Cardiff University in the UK report in the Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health.

The study involved 2,375 men ages 45 to 59 who completed detailed questionnaires on their diets at the beginning of the study. Over the next 20 years, their rates of diabetes, heart disease and stroke were tracked.

In general, Elwood's team found, men who reported the highest dairy intakes had a significantly lower risk of having metabolic syndrome at the study's start. The 15 percent of men who did have metabolic syndrome were 79 percent more likely to develop heart disease over the next 20 years. They also had a four-fold increase in the risk of diabetes and were 46 percent more likely to die over the two decades.

However, when the researchers looked for a direct link between dairy intake at the outset and future risk of diabetes, they found none.

Still, they point out, other studies have tied higher dairy intake to a lower diabetes risk. Most recently, a research review by U.S. researchers found that high calcium and vitamin D intake was associated with an 18 percent lower risk of diabetes.

Milk products may raise cholesterol, Elwood noted, but he added that the public has become "hung up" on this fact. Milk is a "complex food," he said, and may have a wide range of effects in the body.

The research was funded by the UK's Medical Research Council and Cardiff University.