INFLAMMATION IS A NATURAL DEFENSE MECHANISM AGAINST INFECTION; HOWEVER, INAPPROPRIATELY SUSTAINED INFLAMMATION CAN LEAD TO TISSUE DAMAGE AND CHRONIC DISEASES, SUCH AS TYPE 2 DIABETES. DESPITE THE FINDING THAT SEVERAL OF THE SPECIFIC FATTY ACIDS DERIVED FROM DAIRY PRODUCTS HELP REDUCE INFLAMMATION, THE EFFECT OF DAIRY FAT PER SE HAS NOT BEEN STUDIED USING THE GOLD STANDARD METHODOLOGY OF A CONTROLLED-FEEDING TRIAL. THE CENTRAL HYPOTHESIS IS THAT THE CONSUMPTION OF FULL-FAT DAIRY PRODUCTS, WITHIN A HEALTHY DIET, WILL IMPROVE THE INFLAMMATORY TONE IN SUBJECTS WITH PREDIABETES, A CRITICAL INTERVENTION WINDOW FOR PREVENTION OF TYPE 2 DIABETES. PROJECT AIMS ARE TO COMPARE CIRCULATING INFLAMMATORY MARKERS AS WELL AS THE RESPONSE TO AN INFLAMMATORY STRESSOR IN PARTICIPANTS WITH PREDIABETES AFTER THE CONSUMPTION OF A DIET WITH AND WITHOUT DAIRY FAT. THIS PROJECT WILL BE AN EXTENSION OF AN EIGHT-WEEK RANDOMIZED CONTROLLED-FEEDING TRIAL COMPRISED OF TWO, THREE-WEEK EXPERIMENTAL DIET PERIODS INCLUDING EITHER FULL-FAT YOGURT OR NON-FAT YOGURT, EACH PRECEDED BY A ONE-WEEK CONTROL DIET. FOLLOWING THE DIET PERIODS, BLOOD SAMPLES WILL BE COLLECTED AND ANALYZED TO EXAMINE DAIRY FAT-INDUCED CHANGES IN SYSTEMIC INFLAMMATION AND THE STIMULATED INFLAMMATORY RESPONSE. THE CONTROLLED STUDY DESIGN WILL ADVANCE THE NUTRITION AND FOOD SCIENCE DISCIPLINE. THE FINDINGS GENERATED ARE EXPECTED TO AID IN THE IDENTIFICATION OF A DIETARY STRATEGY FOR CHRONIC DISEASE PREVENTION AND WILL EXPAND THE KNOWLEDGE BASIS AVAILABLE FOR NUTRITION TRANSLATION THROUGH THE DIETARY GUIDELINES FOR AMERICANS.