May 31, 2025

Understanding the Dairy Matrix, Its Uses in Human Health and Precision Nutrition, and Why Dairy Is So Cool with Grace Lewis, PhD, and David Everett, PhD

59 minutes

We’re celebrating dairy foods in the latest installment of Dairy Digressions! Host Matt Lucy sits down with two of the voices behind the recent Journal of Dairy Science special issue, “Dairy Foods: A Matrix for Human Health and Precision Nutrition.” Devoted to the latest science on dairy food nutrition, the selected articles in this issue emphasize the crucial role dairy plays in human health from infancy through adulthood. Join us with Grace Lewis, PhD, assistant professor of animal and food science and Dairy Innovation Hub Affiliate at the University of Wisconsin (UW) River Falls, Journal of Dairy Science section editor, and guest editor of the special issue, and David Everett, PhD, a principal investigator and international stakeholder–relationship manager at the Riddet Institute, incoming ADSA President, and author in the special issue. Grace introduces the special issue articles and the exciting studies happening around the dairy matrix, which is helping to usher in a new era of nutrition science. This new era recognizes that dairy can’t be reduced to its parts—we need a holistic understanding of how the interconnected matrix profoundly affects digestion, absorption, and how we fuel our bodies. Grace and David are passionate about advancing the science and spreading the story of dairy’s important part in human health.

They delve into the history of dairy’s consumer perceptions and the evolving science around how we think about full-fat dairy products in particular. Milk is a whole food that delivers all essential amino acids, meaning it’s a complete protein that’s also highly digestible and a vital source of vitamins and minerals like calcium. David dives further into his article on understanding the physical structures in dairy foods that uniquely fuel the human body. He also answers our burning dairy questions, including what the true color of milk is, how we process the most valuable whey powder, and the scandalous history of margarine and butter.

Finally, the group debates whether it’s okay to top your pizza with cottage cheese. Do you have a vote? Sound off in the comments on your favorite podcast platform!

Episode Twenty-Seven Show Notes

Learn more about Grace Lewis, PhD, and connect with her on LinkedIn, and learn more about David Everett, PhD, and connect with him on LinkedIn.

Want even more of the latest dairy food science? Join us atthe 2025 ADSA Annual Meeting in Louisville, Kentucky, this June!

Start earning rewards and journal savings via the ADSA Loyalty Rewards Program for the Journal of Dairy Science and JDS Communications.

Catch up on the papers and presentation discussed in theepisode:

Engaging today’s undergraduate students in the field of dairy science with a focus on the female student population, JDS Communications (2025)

Dairy Foods: A Matrix for Human Health and Precision Nutrition—Introduction, Journal of Dairy Science (2025)

Dairy Foods: A Matrix for Human Health and Precision Nutrition—The impact of the dairy food matrix on digestion and absorption, Journal of Dairy Science (2025)

Dairy Foods: A Matrix for Human Health and Precision Nutrition—Effect of processing infant milk formula on protein digestion and gut barrier health (in vitro and preclinical), Journal of Dairy Science (2025)

Dairy Foods: A Matrix for Human Health and Precision Nutrition—The relevance of a potential bioactive ingredient; The milkfat globule membrane, Journal of Dairy Science (2025)

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