Research

Hormonal

Fermented dairy products (cheese, yogurt) and probiotics are associated with a lower risk of cardiovascular disease (CVD) and type 2 diabetes, independent of saturated fat content, whereas non-fermented low-fat milk may be associated with higher diabetes risk.

Prioritize fermented dairy products like cheese and yogurt over non-fermented low-fat milk for metabolic health. These foods are associated with a lower risk of cardiovascular disease and type 2 diabetes. The fermentation process and specific fatty acid profiles in dairy appear to offer protective benefits that contradict the general fear of saturated fats.

GoodSupportsHIGH confidence
fermented dairy consumption including cheese is linked to lower CVD risk, and that yogurt, cheese, and even dairy fat may protect against type 2 diabetes.
Dariush Mozaffarian · Advances in Nutrition · 2019

Why this rating

Large prospective cohorts and meta-analyses support the association, though causality is harder to establish than in RCTs.

Source

Dairy Foods, Obesity, and Metabolic Health: The Role of the Food Matrix Compared with Single Nutrients

Dariush Mozaffarian · Advances in Nutrition · 2019

DOI 10.1093/advances/nmz053

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DOI resolved against Crossref · corpus check 2026-06-10

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