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.

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.

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.

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.'”