Dairy is having a moment. Yogurt seems poised to displace olive oil as the new "it" superfood. A prominent food-is-medicine researcher and cardiologist is promoting full-fat dairy. And when you look at the top of the new inverted food pyramid issued by the federal government, you'll see a thick wedge of cheese, next to a steak.
So, you might ask, is cheese a health food now? And where does LDL cholesterol – the longtime poster villain for heart disease – fit into all of this?
"Food is complicated," said cardiologist Dariush Mozaffarian, MD, director of the Food is Medicine Institute at Tufts University in Boston, who's been widely quoted in the media saying full-fat dairy is equally as beneficial as low-fat. "You can't just think of some single thing like saturated fat content or even calories and make a decision."
Three dairy servings per day has long been the federal dietary guideline. What's new is the directive to consume full-fat dairy.
If you eat that much full-fat dairy, you're likely to surpass the recommended daily limit on saturated fat – which is less than 10% of total daily calories, said Frank Hu, MD, PhD, chair of the Department of Nutrition at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health in Boston. That's especially true for people who eat a lot of other high-saturated fat foods, such as animal protein. "And then they encourage people to use butter or beef tallow instead of vegetable oils for cooking. And so that's why the math really doesn't add up."
So what should you do?
The Dairy Debate
Mozaffarian has a suggestion: Don't count saturated fat that comes from full-fat dairy when calculating your 10% limit. (That's what the government did when it added whole milk to school lunch programs.)
The idea of accepting full-fat dairy is sound, he said – evidence is "very clear that there's really no advantage to consuming low-fat dairy over full-fat dairy. And there could be some advantages to consuming whole-fat dairy over low-fat dairy, although that needs to be studied more."
Others disagree. "That doesn't make sense," Hu said. "Saturated fat is saturated fat. It's the same molecule. It's like saying, 'Oh, you shouldn't count added sugar in yogurt because overall, yogurt is healthy.'"
Hu isn't alone. Many top nutritionists are pushing back on the simplified message that full-fat dairy is healthy. They promote a more conservative, nuanced approach. Buried deep in the new dietary guidelines, low-fat and nonfat dairy are equally advised, as are dairy alternatives, contrary to federal health officials' simplified "eat real food" talking points.
The American College of Cardiology continues to advise prioritizing plant-based foods and limiting saturated fat intake from all sources to 10% of daily calories.
Emerging Science on Full-Fat Dairy
Dairy's link to good health is well-established.
"Milk lowers blood pressure, and that's associated with lower risk of stroke. Cheese is actually associated with a lower risk of diabetes. Yogurt is associated with lower weight gain and a lower risk of diabetes," Mozaffarian said. "Dairy has always been recommended as part of a healthy diet. There's really not much controversy about that. So it's really a question of: Should it be whole-fat or low-fat?"
The key finding so far isn't that whole fat is better – it's that the health outcomes don't appear to be different.
Federal dietary guidelines are updated every five years, and during that interim, nutrition experts review the latest food science. In this past cycle and for the first time, saturated fat sources were examined in comparison to one another.
More than 100 studies have examined health outcomes linked to dairy based on its fat content, Mozaffarian said, and the 2025 advisory committee widely reviewed them. Their report offered two conclusions:
- Limited evidence suggests that switching to higher-fat dairy won't raise the risk of diseases of your heart and blood vessels.
- The body of evidence supports replacing saturated fats – including butter, dairy, and red meat – with plant-based alternatives because doing so is linked to a reduced risk of heart and blood vessel problems.
The key to the first bullet is the term "limited," said Penny Kris-Etherton, PhD, RD, a retired professor of nutritional sciences at Penn State University in University Park, Pennsylvania, who served on the 2005 advisory committee. She noted that the studies about lower-fat versus whole-fat dairy typically were short, and most were done outside the U.S., meaning the findings may not apply to Americans who follow a Western diet.
Another caveat: Any benefits of dairy may reflect higher socioeconomic status or the fact that people who eat more dairy often cut back on refined carbohydrates, Hu said. These things could explain some of the associations.
It's also important to consider what people were eating instead of dairy. In most of those studies, researchers looked at what happened when people replaced low-fat or nonfat dairy with full-fat versions. That's a crucial detail to keep in mind when deciding how to adjust your own diet for the best health results.
How to Approach the Dairy Section
Mozaffarian and top nutrition scientists agree on one point, and it's a crucial one – how to go about making your dairy choices. It's very much an "eat this, not that" approach. Just ask this question when you're standing in the dairy aisle: "Compared to what?"
Many foods (such as yogurt, fruit, vegetables, and fish) are just super healthy, Mozaffarian said, and others are clearly unhealthy: sugary drinks, processed meat, and ultraprocessed foods.
"And then there are the in-between foods," he said. Cheese is a perfect example. "It depends on, 'compared to what?'"
That's how people could view their choices: "If you're going to have cheese instead of blueberries and figs and broccoli, it's probably worse for you. But if you're going to have cheese instead of white bread or a soda or candy, it's better for you," he said. Start with animal products, such as eggs. "Eggs aren't really a health food, and they're actually not bad for you. So eggs are better than Lucky Charms, but eggs are worse than yogurt and almonds."
His advice for those who consume sweetened dairy, such as yogurts or milks, is to swap in cheese.
"It's better to have whole-fat plain versions than sweetened low-fat versions," Mozaffarian said. Those who eat plain versions don't need to switch to whole fat. If you're eating low-fat dairy but prefer whole-fat dairy, "then by all means switch."
The bottom line, though, is that there isn't enough evidence yet to tell everybody to switch from low-fat to whole-fat dairy, he said. Whole-fat dairy should be your choice instead of something less healthy.
Kris-Etherton agrees.
If a person doesn't like skim milk or skim-milk products, "maybe it's better to include some full-fat dairy in your diet, to get all the great nutrients that dairy products provide," she said. "Certainly, that would be a better choice than sugar-sweetened beverages, or even fruit drinks."
Whole milk makes you feel fuller because it leaves the stomach more slowly than lower-fat milk, Kris-Etherton said. Cheese is sometimes linked to reduced waist circumference, and some studies have found no link to weight loss outcomes when people switch to full-fat dairy. "Calories are an issue" and should be kept in mind, Kris-Etherton said.
For those who decide to consume more full-fat dairy, she recommends a cholesterol check after six months.
Kris-Etherton points to the American Heart Association's Life's Essential 8 program, to optimize sleep, diet, physical activity, weight, blood sugar, blood pressure, and cholesterol, and to quit smoking.
"What the research has shown is that people who have all of those in check, you have a lower prevalence of cardiovascular disease," she said. "So you can't just say, 'Oh, well, one really isn't very important.'"
