Most consumers consider yogurt a nutritious food because it is a cultured dairy product that contains live and active cultures. Being milk-based automatically means that yogurt provides seven essential nutrients to the diet, including protein, calcium, phosphorus, vitamin B12, pantothenic acid (vitamin B5), riboflavin (vitamin B2) and zinc. 

In fact, many people are considering yogurt as an important part of their diet. Yet, yogurt per-capita consumption was approximately 13.8 pounds per person in the United States in 2023 (www.statista.com), which is lower than its peak in 2013 to 2014 at 14.9 pounds per person. In general, however, the yogurts introduced today are higher in protein and lower in sugar than the yogurts on shelf 10 years ago, which means they also have more to offer from a nutritional standpoint. 

As a result, today’s research on the nutrition of yogurt and other dairy foods is decidedly different than in the past.

Nutrition research traditionally has focused on intake of specific nutrients and beneficial health outcomes like vitamin C and prevention of scurvy or calcium intake and prevention of osteoporosis. For instance, milk, yogurt and cheese used to be looked at just as a source of calcium. There also was some research published last year in the journal Nutrients by 16 different authors from around the world titled “The Dairy Matrix: Its Importance, Definition, and Current Application in the Context of Nutrition and Health” (https://doi.org/10.3390/nu16172908). They explain that nutrition research has shifted from analyzing individual nutrients to evaluating the association of foods and dietary patterns on health. 

They also write that food is more than the sum of its parts, which leads to the concept of a food matrix. Dairy foods have their own unique matrices and positive health benefits. To help understand this new approach, the International Dairy Federation (IDF), the global dairy sector’s leading source of expertise and scientific knowledge, has provided some recommendations for internationally harmonized terms to be used. 

“The ‘dairy matrix’ describes the unique structure of a dairy food, its components (e.g., nutrients and non-nutrients), and how they interact; ‘dairy matrix health effects’ refers to the impact of a dairy food on health that extend beyond its individual components,” the IDF states. This shift from nutrient focused to food focused research recognizes that the health benefits of foods are not determined by individual nutrients. 

Yogurt has a unique dairy matrix based on its components and structure. Yogurt research has shown positive health outcomes such as decreased risk of mortality, cardiovascular events, and type 2 diabetes. The cultures in the fermentation process of yogurt also produce unique bioactive components like short chain fatty acids and peptides that contribute to better insulin sensitivity and lower blood pressure.

Another recent publication by the Japanese company Meiji in Nutrients, 2023 (https://doi.org/10.3390/nu15204366), focuses on the nutritional value of yogurt as a protein source and its digestibility and absorbability effects on muscle. The paper focuses on the fact that the fermentation and manufacturing process changes the milk proteins in yogurt, which makes them different from a non-fermented dairy product like milk. 

In their review of the literature, they found some studies using Greek and Icelandic style yogurts that showed a positive impact on weight gain in underweight people and muscle maintenance in older adults. The underweight young males and the older adult males received Greek yogurt with 20g of protein or an isocaloric carbohydrate-based pudding three times per day on weight training days and two times per day on their off days. 

The training program provided increases in strength and lean mass in both groups. Yogurt consumption during the program resulted in higher lean mass, increased maximal muscle strength, and decreased body fat percentage compared with the placebo pudding consumption, while weight gain was comparable between the two groups. This increased lean mass with improved body composition is similar to the effect found with yogurt intake during weight loss. 

Another research project reported results from healthy older men (average age 68 years) who participated in a whole-body resistance training program three times a week for eight weeks. The participants consumed Icelandic yogurt containing 18g of milk protein (similar to Greek yogurt but fermented by Lactococcus spp. and Lactobacillus casei) or pudding containing isocaloric carbohydrates once daily, immediately after training or at the same time on non-training days. 

The resistance training program resulted in increased lean muscle and muscle strength in both groups. The Icelandic yogurt consumption provided additional benefits, including higher lean mass, increased muscle strength, and greater weight loss, compared with the placebo pudding consumption. The study did not use high-protein milk (that was not fermented) as a comparison variable, however. Though the reported studies focused on the overall protein content of yogurt, there could be a dairy matrix effect involved.

Another publication by Hasegawa and Bolling in Functional Foods and Nutrition, 2023 (https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cofs.2023.101017), reviewed seven studies that have isolated nutrients, bioactive peptides, microbial metabolites, and other components of yogurt to evaluate the impact on chronic inflammation and immune health. The authors’ theory is that the yogurt matrix is a complex mixture of bioactives from milk, fermentation, or fortification and that yogurt bioactives modulate the gut microbiota, intestinal barrier, and immunocytes in the gut and other tissues that impact the immune system. The authors also state that the evidence isn’t clear that yogurt can prevent infection and treat gastrointestinal diseases due to the variability in formulations of yogurt and the amounts and duration of consumption.

The dairy matrix concept is new and only 11 published papers have used the term during the past 10 years. Ongoing research is needed to validate the positive health benefits of the yogurt matrix. Until then, there isn’t any reason not to include yogurt in your diet to see how it may benefit your own health.