Study Casts Doubt On Yogurt’s Health Benefits — But Don’t Give Up On It Just Yet

Does yogurt deserve a spot in the fridge? (Photo: Getty Images)

Yogurt has long worn a health halo, but a new study in the Journal of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics suggests the food may not hold as many benefits as previously thought.

In the study, researchers from the Autonomous University of Madrid analyzed data on 4,445 adults and their yogurt consumption that was collected over nearly four years. They found that those who ate yogurt regularly did not have any significant improvement in their health-related quality of life — physically or mentally. (There was a slight improvement in mental health, but it wasn’t statistically significant.)

The new study seemingly contradicts previous research that has linked regular yogurt consumption to a slew of health benefits.

Research published last year in the journal BMC Medicine, for instance, found that people who eat yogurt every day have a lower risk of developing Type 2 diabetes. A recent study from the American Heart Association also showed that adding more yogurt to your diet without increasing the number of calories you eat may help lower risk of developing high blood pressure. And a study published last year in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition found that people who regularly eat yogurt may gain less weight over time.

Eating yogurt has even been shown to help pregnant women and their fetuses. A study published in the journal of the American Society for Microbiology found that yogurt containing the probiotic Lactobacillus rhamnosus successfully protected children and pregnant women against exposure to toxic metals like mercury and arsenic.

So … what are we supposed to think?

New York-based nutritionist Karen Ansel, RD, tells Yahoo Health that people shouldn’t toss their yogurt containers just yet. “Plain, unsweetened yogurt is one of the healthiest foods a person can eat,” she says. “It’s packed with calcium and potassium, two nutrients that most of us don’t get enough of.”

Yogurt also contains probiotics, beneficial bacteria that keep your digestive system healthy and may even help fight depression.

Related: New Evidence Shows Probiotics Could Help Fight Depression

Ansel says it just makes sense to eat yogurt, and that we should strive to have a serving of it a day. “In return, you’ll get a third of your day’s calcium plus 9 grams of protein,” she says.

Of course, there is a big trap to beware of: sugar. Ansel recommends reading yogurt nutrition labels carefully to make sure the type you’re considering is unsweetened, since some sweetened varieties can contain up to eight teaspoons of sugar (more than you’d get from an eight-ounce soda).

She also says it’s best to avoid artificially sweetened yogurts (a study published in the Journal of Behavioral Neuroscience linked artificial sweeteners with weight gain). Instead, add flavor to plain yogurt with berries, a sprinkle of cinnamon, or a teaspoon of honey or maple syrup.

Related: 20 Foods That Are Sugar Bombs

It’s worth noting that researchers of the new study stated that they didn’t find health improvements in the specific parameters they analyzed. They used health-related quality of life (HRQOL) metrics, which the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention states is a self-reported measure of physical and mental health, and not a blood test or analysis.

Ansel also points out that this particular study didn’t distinguish between sugar-sweetened and unsweetened yogurt in its formal analysis, although researchers observed that most of the yogurt that participants ate was sugar-sweetened. In fact, the people who ate the most yogurt also consumed the most sugar, which can have a negative impact on several aspects of health.

Researchers admit that more work needs to be done before people give up on yogurt altogether. “For future research, more specific instruments must be used, which may increase the probability of finding a potential benefit of this food,” study author Esther López-García said in a statement.

Read This Next: The 9 Best Yogurts for Weight Loss

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