The Study
Modelled replacement of meats by dairy products and incident coronary heart disease: Evidence from the UK Biobank Study
This study looked at what people ate and then saw who got heart disease later, but it didn’t make anyone change their diet. So we can say people who ate more dairy and less meat tended to have less heart disease, but we don’t know if the dairy itself caused the difference.
Analysis score
Maximum 72 for a cohort study.
Where the score came from
This study looked at what happens when people swap meat for dairy like cheese, milk, or yogurt — and whether it changes their chance of heart disease.
Where does this study sit?
Reviews of RCTs (Meta-analyses)
Max 100Randomized Trials
Max 90Reviews of Cohort Studies
Max 85Cohort Studies
Max 72Reviews of Case-Control Studies
Max 63Case-Control Studies
Max 58Cross-Sectional & Case Series
Max 50Expert Opinion
Max 552 / 100
Quality score
Groups of people are followed over time to see who develops an outcome. Strong for identifying risk factors and associations, but cannot prove causation as firmly as RCTs.
Key takeaways
Summary
Based on the study abstract and findings.
- 1Yes — replacing just one daily serving of meat with cheese could meaningfully lower heart disease risk over time, especially if it’s processed meat.
- 2Swapping 1 serving of processed meat for cheese lowered heart disease risk by 13%.
- 3Swapping red meat or poultry for cheese lowered risk by 10% and 8%.
- 4Swapping for milk or yogurt didn’t help much.
Score breakdown, methodology, conflicts of interest, evidence analysis & raw study data
Publication
Journal
Proceedings of the Nutrition Society
Year
2024
Authors
Y. Vogtschmidt, S. Soedamah-Muthu, D. I. Givens, J. Lovegrove
Related Content
Claims (6)
People who eat cheese have lower rates of death from heart disease compared to those who do not.
In middle-aged and older adults, swapping 100 grams of poultry per day with 30 grams of cheese per day is linked to an 8% lower rate of coronary heart disease.
Replacing meat with dairy products does not consistently lower the risk of coronary heart disease. Cheese is associated with a benefit, but milk and yogurt are not associated with any change in risk.
In middle-aged and older adults, swapping one serving of processed meat per day with one serving of cheese is linked to a 13% lower rate of coronary heart disease.
In middle-aged and older adults, swapping 100 grams of unprocessed red meat per day with 30 grams of cheese is linked to a 10% lower rate of coronary heart disease.
In middle-aged and older adults, swapping one serving of processed meat per day with one serving of milk or yogurt is linked to a 7–8% lower rate of coronary heart disease.
Not medical advice. For informational purposes only. Always consult a qualified healthcare professional before making health decisions.