In This ArticleView AllIn This ArticleSaturated FatFermented DairyDairy Allergy vs. IntoleranceDairy Sensitivities
In This ArticleView All
View All
In This Article
Saturated Fat
Fermented Dairy
Dairy Allergy vs. Intolerance
Dairy Sensitivities
Pictured Recipe:Cauliflower Soup
So, what’s the real story when it comes to dairy and inflammation? The quick answer is that it appears most people don’t need to cut dairy out in order to improve health and reduce inflammation—at least not long-term. The longer answer is that there’s not a lot of definitive research (good or bad) about dairy’s effects on inflammation and overall health, and this gray area makes it easier for speculation and opinion to seem like fact. We dug into the research to see if dairy actually does cause inflammation, and here’s what we found.
10 Ways to Reduce Inflammation
Dairy Has Anti-Inflammatory Effects, but Be Mindful of Saturated Fat
Because of the inflammatory effects seen from saturated fat, higher-fat dairy products are considered inflammatory foods. However, researchers, when looking at dairy and inflammation, suggested thatdairy consumptionmay actually be linked to a decreased risk for inflammation. This conclusion was independent of whether the dairy was low-fat or full-fat.
What does this mean?Researchers aren’t really sure. While saturated fat may not be as harmful and inflammatory as we once thought, that doesn’t mean we’re in the clear to eat loads of saturated fat-containing foods—especially people with type 2 diabetes or those with an increased risk for heart disease. Until more is known, keep tabs on saturated fat, but feel free to work some cheese or milk into your diet.
Healthy Cheese Recipes
Fermented Dairy Products May Reduce Inflammation
Improving gut health is an essential component of reducing overall inflammation in the body, and regularly consuming a variety of good bacteria strains is one of the best ways to do this. Good bacteria, or probiotics, have many health benefits, including improving immune function and making the intestinal gut lining stronger and less permeable. This, in turn, means fewer irritants such as toxins, chemicals and other compounds are able to cross the gut lining and get into the body to trigger inflammation.
What does this mean?Eating dairy products like yogurt with active, live bacteria cultures may help strengthen gut health to reduce inflammation.
Milk Allergies vs. Lactose Intolerance
As mentioned above, there’s a small segment of the population thatdoesneed to eliminate most dairy foods—and that’s people with a milk allergy: they’re allergic to casein, a protein in dairy. For these individuals, milk consumption or consuming milk-based products triggers a direct inflammatory response from the immune system, the effects of which can be mild to life-threatening.
What does this mean?Even when the reaction is mild, consuming milk and foods containing milk will trigger an inflammatory immune response in people with a milk allergy. However, inflammation isn’t the cause of lactose intolerance, so avoiding dairy may minimize symptoms but does little in regard to inflammation.
A more controversial area of debate is dairy sensitivity, largely because food sensitivity is difficult to identify accurately. Food sensitivities aren’t life-threatening and don’t trigger a direct immune response as an allergen does, but many functional medicine practitioners and dietitians think food sensitivities are worth paying attention to from an inflammatory standpoint.
The reason is that existing low-grade inflammation appears to make some individuals hypersensitive or more susceptible to irritation from foods that normally wouldn’t bother them. An elimination diet where dairy intake is temporarily eliminated for several weeks (along with several other foods) is considered the best way to diagnose a sensitivity. When you slowly add those foods back, you watch for signs of irritation or inflammation to see if the body appears sensitive to a particular food.
What does this mean?Inflammation may cause the body to be hypersensitive to foods such as dairy, so it can be beneficial totemporarily eliminate it, with help from a dietitian or physician. Once the inflammation has subsided, slowly add it back and watch for reactions. You may find you have a dairy sensitivity or that you can consume dairy just fine now that the body has calmed down and isn’t hypersensitive.
The Bottom Line
Unless you have a milk allergy, research suggests that dairy is not the root cause of low-grade inflammation in the body. In fact, consuming foods like yogurt may actually help toreduceinflammation. You may want to try temporarily cutting out both dairy and gluten for a few weeks if you have existing inflammation or irritations in the body. Focus on whole, minimally processed foods, de-stress and allow your body to calm down. Then, try adding dairy back to your diet. You may find that dairy isn’t an issue when your body is in a healthy place.
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SourcesEatingWell uses only high-quality sources, including peer-reviewed studies, to support the facts within our articles. Read oureditorial processto learn more about how we fact-check and keep our content accurate, reliable and trustworthy.Hess JM, Stephensen CB, Kratz M, Bolling BW.Exploring the links between diet and inflammation: Dairy foods as case studies.Adv Nutr. 2021;12(Suppl 1):1S-13S. doi:10.1093/advances/nmab108Zhang X, Luo Q, Guan X, et al.Effects of fermented dairy products on inflammatory biomarkers: A meta-analysis.Nutr Metab Cardiovasc Dis. 2023;33(3):471-482. doi:10.1016/j.numecd.2022.12.014Saleem GN, Gu R, Qu H, et al.Therapeutic potential of popular fermented dairy products and its benefits on human health.Front Nutr. 2024;11:1328620. doi:10.3389/fnut.2024.1328620
Sources
EatingWell uses only high-quality sources, including peer-reviewed studies, to support the facts within our articles. Read oureditorial processto learn more about how we fact-check and keep our content accurate, reliable and trustworthy.Hess JM, Stephensen CB, Kratz M, Bolling BW.Exploring the links between diet and inflammation: Dairy foods as case studies.Adv Nutr. 2021;12(Suppl 1):1S-13S. doi:10.1093/advances/nmab108Zhang X, Luo Q, Guan X, et al.Effects of fermented dairy products on inflammatory biomarkers: A meta-analysis.Nutr Metab Cardiovasc Dis. 2023;33(3):471-482. doi:10.1016/j.numecd.2022.12.014Saleem GN, Gu R, Qu H, et al.Therapeutic potential of popular fermented dairy products and its benefits on human health.Front Nutr. 2024;11:1328620. doi:10.3389/fnut.2024.1328620
EatingWell uses only high-quality sources, including peer-reviewed studies, to support the facts within our articles. Read oureditorial processto learn more about how we fact-check and keep our content accurate, reliable and trustworthy.
Hess JM, Stephensen CB, Kratz M, Bolling BW.Exploring the links between diet and inflammation: Dairy foods as case studies.Adv Nutr. 2021;12(Suppl 1):1S-13S. doi:10.1093/advances/nmab108Zhang X, Luo Q, Guan X, et al.Effects of fermented dairy products on inflammatory biomarkers: A meta-analysis.Nutr Metab Cardiovasc Dis. 2023;33(3):471-482. doi:10.1016/j.numecd.2022.12.014Saleem GN, Gu R, Qu H, et al.Therapeutic potential of popular fermented dairy products and its benefits on human health.Front Nutr. 2024;11:1328620. doi:10.3389/fnut.2024.1328620
Hess JM, Stephensen CB, Kratz M, Bolling BW.Exploring the links between diet and inflammation: Dairy foods as case studies.Adv Nutr. 2021;12(Suppl 1):1S-13S. doi:10.1093/advances/nmab108
Zhang X, Luo Q, Guan X, et al.Effects of fermented dairy products on inflammatory biomarkers: A meta-analysis.Nutr Metab Cardiovasc Dis. 2023;33(3):471-482. doi:10.1016/j.numecd.2022.12.014
Saleem GN, Gu R, Qu H, et al.Therapeutic potential of popular fermented dairy products and its benefits on human health.Front Nutr. 2024;11:1328620. doi:10.3389/fnut.2024.1328620
