Diabetes and high blood pressure diagnoses are on the rise in the United States and that’s especially the case in the Black community.

As a result, an international study that analyzed data from nearly 150,000 people found that a higher intake of dairy, especially whole-fat varieties, could be linked to a lower risk of diabetes and high blood pressure.

The study, which was published in the journal BMJ Open Diabetes Research & Care, tested 147,812 people from 21 countries throughout the world who ranged in age from 35 to 70.

Over an average of a nine-year period, people in the study who consumed an average of 179 grams of dairy each day— slightly less than a glass of milk or a cup of yogurt— were 11–12 percent less at risk of having both diabetes and high blood pressure.

“Higher intake of dairy foods, such as milk, yogurt, and cheese, especially whole-fat dairy rather than low-fat dairy, is associated with a lower prevalence of metabolic syndrome and with a lower risk of developing hypertension and diabetes,” said co-author Andrew Mente, Ph.D., a principal investigator at the Population Health Research Institute.