The Study
Dairy consumption and mortality after myocardial infarction: a prospective analysis in the Alpha Omega Cohort
This study watched what people ate and then saw who got sick or passed away over many years. It found that people who ate more yogurt tended to live longer, but it didn’t make them eat yogurt — so we can’t say yogurt made them live longer, just that the two things often happened together.
Analysis score
Maximum 72 for a cohort study.
Where the score came from
This study looked at what dairy foods people ate after having a heart attack and whether it affected how long they lived.
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 565 / 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 — eating a small cup of plain yogurt daily may help heart attack survivors live longer, but drinking full-fat milk might be harmful.
- 2People who ate more than 50 grams of plain yogurt daily had a 13% lower risk of dying from any cause, and a 4% lower risk of dying from heart problems for every 25 grams more per day.
- 3People who drank high-fat milk had a 30% higher risk of dying overall.
- 4Regular milk and cheese showed no clear effect.
Score breakdown, methodology, conflicts of interest, evidence analysis & raw study data
Publication
Journal
The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition
Year
2021
Authors
E. Cruijsen, Maria G Jacobo Cejudo, L. K. Küpers, M. C. Busstra, J. Geleijnse
Related Content
Claims (7)
Eating cheese in moderate amounts is linked to health benefits, but eating more than that does not lead to greater benefits.
People who eat cheese have the same or lower risk of dying from any cause compared to those who eat less cheese.
Among Dutch adults aged 60–80 who previously had a heart attack, those who eat 25 grams of plain yogurt daily have a 4% lower risk of dying from cardiovascular disease, and those who eat more than 50 grams daily have a 14% lower risk.
Eating moderate amounts of cheese is associated with lower risk of death from any cause, but eating more than moderate amounts does not lower risk further.
Among Dutch adults aged 60–80 who previously had a heart attack, eating more than 50 grams of yogurt per day is linked to a 13% lower risk of death from any cause, with the benefit decreasing at higher consumption levels.
Dutch adults aged 60–80 who have had a heart attack and drink high-fat milk have a 30% higher risk of dying from any cause compared to those who do not drink high-fat milk, even when accounting for other health factors.
Not medical advice. For informational purposes only. Always consult a qualified healthcare professional before making health decisions.