Dairy products are an important part of the dietary structure of Chinese residents. A wide variety of dairy products are commercially available, which are rich in nutrients and contain high-quality protein, various trace elements and functional ingredients including such active ingredients that are beneficial for lipid metabolism as milk calcium, whey, polar lipids and conjugated linoleic acid. Dairy products have the potential to regulate blood lipids and reduce the risk of cardiovascular disease. In addition, dairy products are high-quality carriers of active ingredients, and the active ingredients in milk can synergize with those added to milk to regulate blood lipids or to protect them. For this reason, milk is often used as an ingredient of functional dairy products. Hyperlipidemia is recognized worldwide as one of the risk factors for cardiovascular and cerebrovascular diseases such as atherosclerosis, coronary heart disease and hypertension. Studies have shown that functional milk can aid in regulating blood lipids. This paper reviews the current status of studies on dairy products and lipid metabolism-related health problems, aiming to provide a theoretical basis for the research of functional dairy products.

In order to understand the influence of interaction between the functional components and milk proteins in lipidlowering milk on the effectiveness of the functional components, we investigated the influence of casein and whey protein on the inhibitory effect of epigallocatechin (EGC) against pancreatic lipase, and we also determined the influence on the antioxidant activity of a mixture of EGC and the functional components as well as the influence on the inhibitory effect of a mixture of β-glucan and the functional components on the solubility of cholesterol-containing micelles. The results showed that milk protein could reduce the inhibitory effect of the functional components on pancreatic lipase activity, and decrease their antioxidant activity and their ability to inhibit the solubility of cholesterol-containing micelles.