Evidence points to yogurt as a nutrient-dense part of healthy diets

by Sy Boles, Harvard University

edited by Swati Mestri, reviewed by Andrew Zinin

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People have been making health claims about yogurt for hundreds of years.

The Mongol emperor Genghis Khan, in the late 12th and early 13th centuries, reportedly believed yogurt would give his army strength and bravery, but science has only recently begun catching up.

Bravery: probably not.

But much of my research looks at how we can stay vital and healthy as we age, and if we can increase our protein intake while reducing chronic disease risk, which yogurt can help us do, then maybe Genghis Khan was onto something.

The work is published in The Journal of Nutrition, Health and Aging.

Now, there's an interesting paradox here. Yogurt, particularly full-fat yogurt, can contain saturated fat, which has traditionally raised concerns that it increases LDL cholesterol and cardiovascular disease risk. A meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials found that probiotic yogurt can actually reduce total and LDL cholesterol in people with mildly to moderately elevated cholesterol, while large observational studies suggest that people who regularly eat yogurt tend to have better heart health.

In large U.S. studies, eating yogurt at least five times per week was associated with a 16% lower risk of high blood pressure, and among people with high blood pressure, eating yogurt at least twice a week was associated with a 17% lower risk of cardiovascular disease in women and a 21% lower risk in men.

Particularly interesting given concerns about saturated fat, a large Danish study found that replacing low-fat and high-fat milk with whole-fat yogurt was associated with an 11%–13% lower risk of heart disease. These findings illustrate what we call the "food-matrix effect," where the health effects of a whole food cannot necessarily be predicted from one nutrient, such as saturated fat, considered in isolation.

The problem with these observational studies is that they can't show causality. Results are susceptible to confounding by other variables like overall diet, lifestyle and socioeconomic factors. Exactly how and why yogurt is beneficial, and for whom and at what stage of life, is not clear.

All of this paints a complicated picture for the consumer standing in the grocery store, looking at so many different products. Some are high in protein, some contain more sugar and some contain more fat. There's no straightforward answer, no magic number of servings of yogurt that everyone should eat.

I think of it more like a nutrient-dense component of an overall healthy dietary pattern. That might be having yogurt with fruit and whole grains at breakfast, having some yogurt as a snack instead of something that is more highly processed or higher in calories, or even using plain yogurt in savory dips or dressings.

But we still have a lot to learn—both about the mechanisms by which yogurt is beneficial and about the strains of bacteria, which are actually very, very different from one another all the way up to their taxonomic class. My hope is that by continuing to study this food, we can get closer to personalized nutrition—the right type of yogurt with the right type of bacteria, for the right person, at the right time.

More information

Sarah Jaehwa Park et al, Yogurt and human health across history, culture, and science: Lessons for modern aging populations, The Journal of nutrition, health and aging (2026). DOI: 10.1016/j.jnha.2026.100942

Key medical concepts

YogurtCardiovascular DiseasesHigh Blood PressureAcid, Saturated Fatty

Clinical categories

Nutrition & Healthy eatingHealthy livingHealthy aging Provided by Harvard University Who's behind this story?

Swati Mestri

Swati Mestri holds a bachelor's degree in Electronics Engineering and has worked as a content editor since 2019. She has experience editing research documents across technology, health care, and materials science, and has a particular interest in technology and space. Full profile →

Andrew Zinin

Master's in physics with research experience. Long-time science news enthusiast. Plays key role in Science X's editorial success. Full profile →

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