Welcome  to  Public  Health  moment from  the  University  of  Minnesota. Too  much  meat,  fried  foods  and  diet  soda  can increase  your  risk  of  developing  metabolic  syndrome, a  condition  that  can  lead  to  heart  disease  and  diabetes. Dairy  products,  on  the  other  hand, appear  to  reduce  the  risk. That's  according  to  a  University  of  Minnesota  study involving  9,500  people. The  study  was  co  authored  by  Pamela  Lose. The  metabolic  syndrome  is  a  conglomerate  of  risk  factors which  is  associated  with an  increased  risk  of  cardiovascular  disease. Diabetes,  characterized  by  the  presence  of  three of  the  five  following cardiovascular  disease  risk  factors. Elevated  Wast  circumference,  low  HDL  cholesterol, which  is  the  good  cholesterol, high  triglyceride  levels  which relate  to  the  bad  cholesterol. Hypertension  and  elevated  glucose  or  diabetes. Although  there's  no  clear  answer why  diet  soda  increases  risk, let's  said  that  it  could  be  that  people  who drink  diet  soda  splurge  on  other  foods. What's  the  take  home  message? Eat  a  balanced  diet. These  findings  support  the  recommendations  of the  2005  Dietary  Guidelines  for  Americans, which  suggest  consuming  five  servings of  fruit  and  vegetables  per  day. Two  servings  of  fish, and  2-3  servings  of  low  fat  dairy. With  another  public  health  moment,  I'm  John  Finnegan.