The Study
The dose-response relationship between dairy product intake and all-cause and cardiovascular mortality risk: a systematic review and meta-analysis of prospective cohort studies
This study looked at lots of people over many years and found that those who ate more yogurt and cheese tended to live longer and have fewer heart problems. But it doesn’t prove that yogurt and cheese caused that—maybe those people also exercised more or ate healthier overall.
Analysis score
Maximum 85 for a systematic review with meta-analysis.
Where the score came from
This study looked at what happens when people eat different kinds of dairy like milk, cheese, and yogurt over many years.
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 566 / 100
Quality score
Systematic reviews and meta-analyses of cohort studies. They sit above a single cohort study but below a single randomized trial, because the underlying evidence is still observational.
Key takeaways
Summary
Based on the study abstract and findings.
- 1Yes — eating moderate amounts of yogurt and cheese is linked to living longer and having fewer heart attacks, but eating too much dairy overall might not help.
- 2Eating 200g of yogurt daily lowers risk of dying from heart disease or any cause by 11%.
- 3Eating 15g of cheese daily lowers heart disease death risk by 5%.
- 4Milk (200g/day) lowers heart disease death risk by 14%.
- 5Eating too much total dairy (over 300g/day) might increase risk.
Score breakdown, methodology, conflicts of interest, evidence analysis & raw study data
Publication
Journal
Frontiers in Nutrition
Year
2026
Authors
Xiaomeng Hu, Kaiyang Wang, Xing Ji, Xinwei Wang, Peiyan Bai, Kailin Huang, Aimei Lu, Jingen Li, Huanlin Wu
Related Content
Claims (10)
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.
People who eat cheese have lower rates of death from heart disease compared to those who do not.
Eating cheese, regardless of how much, does not increase the risk of dying from any cause.
People who regularly eat yogurt and cheese have a lower risk of dying from heart disease than people who drink milk, based on observed patterns in population studies.
People who drink 200 grams of milk daily have a 14% lower risk of dying from heart disease compared to those who do not, but their overall risk of dying from any cause is not different.
Not medical advice. For informational purposes only. Always consult a qualified healthcare professional before making health decisions.