Dairy Matrix Effects: Physicochemical Properties Underlying a Multifaceted Paradigm.

When food products are often considered only as a source of individual nutrients or a collection of nutrients, this overlooks the importance of interactions between nutrients, but also interactions between nutrients and other constituents of food, i.e., the product matrix.

Impact of Dairy Products and Plant-Based Alternatives on Dental Health: Food Matrix Effects.

The impact of dairy products on dental health has been researched widely and shows an important role of various constituents, as well as the specific product matrix, in maintaining and improving dental health. These include, for instance, the position of lactose as the least cariogenic fermentable sugar, the high levels of calcium and phosphate, the presence of phosphopeptides as well as the antibacterial peptides lactoferrin and lysozyme and high buffering capacity. With plant-based alternatives for dairy products being developed and marketed these days, the specific benefits of dairy products in relation to dental health are often overlooked and most products contain more cariogenic carbohydrates, lack phosphopeptides, and have fewer minerals and less buffering capacity.

Glycemic Responses of Milk and Plant-Based Drinks: Food Matrix Effects.

The consumption of food items containing digestible carbohydrates in food products leads to postprandial increases in blood glucose levels and glycemic responses. The extent to which these occur depends on many factors, including concentration and type of carbohydrate, but also other physicochemical properties of the food matrix, which determine the rate of uptake of monosaccharides into the bloodstream, including product structure and factors affecting gastric emptying. For milk, control of postprandial glycemic responses appears to be multifaceted, including a controlled rate of gastric emptying, a rate of glucose and galactose uptake into the bloodstream controlled by enzymatic hydrolysis, as well as stimulated insulin secretion to enhance uptake of blood glucose from the bloodstream.

Calcium Absorption from Food Products: Food Matrix Effects.

This article reviews physicochemical aspects of calcium absorption from foods. Notable differences are observed between different food products in relation to calcium absorption, which range from <10% to >50% of calcium in the foods. These differences can be related to the interactions of calcium with other food components in the food matrix, which are affected by various factors, including fermentation, and how these are affected by the conditions encountered in the gastrointestinal tract.

Influence of Dairy Products on Bioavailability of Zinc from Other Food Products: A Review of Complementarity at a Meal Level.

In this paper, we reviewed the role of dairy products in dietary zinc absorption. Dairy products can have a reasonable contribution for dietary zinc intake in Western diets, where dairy consumption is high. However, the co-ingestion of dairy products can also improve zinc absorption from other food products.