Two new studies have suggested that one common, everyday food could help attack diabetes, and the truth may surprise you.

Eating full-fat dairy foods instead of the low-fat or non-fat counterparts may actually cut the riks of diabetes and obesity, although the research is in its preliminary stages, according to researchers at Tufts University.

So put down the skim milk and reach for whole milk, as full-fat dairy products showed a 46 percent lower risk of developing diabetes over a 15-year period compared to those who drank skim milk or ate low-fat yogurt and cheese.

The studies were based on analysis of blood test results, and involved 18,000 middle-age women who were part of the Women’s Health Study. The study determined that those with a more high-fat dairy diet had an 8 percent lower chance of becoming obese compared to those who avoided such a diet.

U.S. dietary guidelines recommend that saturated fat consumption be less than 10 percent of your daily calories. While it may not be time to change the guidelines just yet, it definitely may be time for a change in thinking on the issue.

“Worldwide, policymakers are focused on reducing saturated fats. Yet, we found there would be a much bigger impact on heart disease deaths if the priority was to increase the consumption of polyunsaturated fats as a replacement for saturated fats and refined carbohydrates, as well as to reduce trans fats,” Dariush Mozaffarian, M.D., Dr.P.H., senior study author and dean of the Tufts Friedman School of Nutrition Science & Policy in Boston, said in a statement on healthy fats from last year, suggesting we may be focused on the wrong kinds of fats.