The Study
Postprandial metabolic effects of milk and yoghurt in young and older adults
This study gave 28 healthy men milk and yogurt on different days and measured how their blood changed after eating. It shows yogurt makes blood sugar and insulin rise less than milk, and older people’s bodies clear fat slower than younger people’s. But it doesn’t prove yogurt prevents diabetes or that aging causes heart disease—it just shows what happens right after eating.
Analysis score
Maximum 90 for a randomized controlled trial.
Where the score came from
When older men ate yogurt instead of milk, their blood sugar and insulin didn't spike as high. But their fat levels stayed high longer — and yogurt didn't fix that. Some specific fats from yogurt stuck around much longer in older men than in young men.
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 574 / 100
Quality score
Participants are randomly assigned to treatment or control groups, minimizing bias. The gold standard for testing whether an intervention causes an effect.
Key takeaways
Summary
Based on the study abstract and findings.
- 1Yes — lower sugar spikes from yogurt may help prevent diabetes risk, but higher, lingering fats in older adults may increase heart disease risk, and yogurt didn't help clear them.
- 2Yogurt lowered peak blood sugar by 68–73% and insulin by 8–22% vs milk.
- 3Older men had 2–3x higher fat levels (triglycerides) for up to 6 hours after eating.
- 4Seven saturated fats from yogurt stayed elevated longer in older men.
Score breakdown, methodology, conflicts of interest, evidence analysis & raw study data
Publication
Journal
Genes & Nutrition
Year
2025
Authors
Elaine Hillesheim, Gaïa Lépine, P. Neuhaus, K. J. Burton-Pimentel, Jinyoung Kim, Katherine J. Li, Ulrich Bütikofer, C. Fleuti, C. Marmonier, Dominique Dardevet, S. Polakof, Guy Vergères
Related Content
Claims (9)
When older adults with muscle loss consume protein, their bodies reduce free fatty acids less than the bodies of young adults do after consuming the same amount of protein.
Older men clear fat from their blood more slowly than younger men after eating dairy, regardless of whether they consume milk or yogurt, meaning aging itself reduces the body’s ability to process dietary fat efficiently.
In older men, the rise and fall of saturated fats in the blood after eating yogurt closely tracks with triglyceride levels, but this link is much weaker in younger men, indicating that aging disrupts how the body manages different types of fat together.
In healthy men aged 20–35 and 65–80, drinking 600 mL of yogurt leads to lower peak levels of blood glucose and insulin after eating than drinking 600 mL of whole milk, even when the macronutrient content is the same.
After eating yogurt, older men retain higher levels of seven specific saturated fats in their blood for longer than younger men, suggesting their bodies are less efficient at clearing these fats from circulation.
Older men clear fat from their blood more slowly after eating than younger men, no matter whether they consume milk or yogurt, suggesting aging reduces the body’s ability to handle dietary fat efficiently.
Not medical advice. For informational purposes only. Always consult a qualified healthcare professional before making health decisions.