Study
shows yogurt consumption reduces the risk of type 2 diabetes
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| Credit: © bit24 / Fotolia |
New research published
in Diabetologia (the journal of the European Association for
the Study of Diabetes) shows that higher consumption of yoghurt, compared with
no consumption, can reduce the risk of new-onset type 2 diabetes by 28%.
Scientists at the
University of Cambridge found that in fact higher consumption of low-fat
fermented dairy products, which include all yoghurt varieties and some low-fat
cheeses, also reduced the relative risk of diabetes by 24% overall.
Lead scientist Dr Nita
Forouhi, from the Medical Research Council (MRC) Epidemiology Unit at the
University of Cambridge, commented "this research highlights that specific
foods may have an important role in the prevention of type 2 diabetes and are
relevant for public health messages."
Previous studies on
links between dairy product consumption (high fat or low fat) and diabetes had
inconclusive findings. Thus, the nature of the association between dairy
product intake and type 2 diabetes remains unclear, prompting the authors to
carry out this new investigation, using much more detailed assessment of dairy
product consumption than was done in past research.
The research was based
on the large EPIC-Norfolk study which includes more than 25,000 men and women
living in Norfolk, UK. It compared a detailed daily record of all the food and
drink consumed over a week at the time of study entry among 753 people who
developed new-onset type 2 diabetes over 11 years of follow-up with 3,502
randomly selected study participants. This allowed the researchers to examine
the risk of diabetes in relation to the consumption of total dairy products and
also types of individual dairy products.
The consumption of
total dairy, total high-fat dairy or total low-fat dairy was not associated
with new-onset diabetes once important factors like healthier lifestyles,
education, obesity levels, other eating habits and total calorie intake were
taken into account.
Total milk and cheese intakes were also not associated with
diabetes risk. In contrast, those with the highest consumption of low-fat
fermented dairy products (such as yoghurt, fromage frais and low-fat cottage
cheese) were 24% less likely to develop type 2 diabetes over the 11 years,
compared with non-consumers.
When examined
separately from the other low-fat fermented dairy products, yoghurt, which
makes up more than 85% of these products, was associated with a 28% reduced
risk of developing diabetes. This risk reduction was observed among individuals
who consumed an average of four and a half standard 125g pots of yoghurt per
week.
The same applies to other low-fat fermented dairy products such as
low-fat unripened cheeses including fromage frais and low-fat cottage cheese. A
further finding was that consuming yoghurt in place of a portion of other
snacks such as crisps also reduced the risk of developing type 2 diabetes.
While this type of
study cannot prove that eating dairy products causes the reduced diabetes risk,
dairy products do contain beneficial constituents such as vitamin D, calcium
and magnesium. In addition, fermented dairy products may exert beneficial
effects against diabetes through probiotic bacteria and a special form of
vitamin K (part of the menaquinone family) associated with fermentation.
The authors
acknowledge the limitations of dietary research which relies on asking people
what they eat and not accounting for change in diets over time, but their study
was large with long follow-up, and had detailed assessment of people's diets
that was collected in real-time as people consumed the foods, rather than
relying on past memory.
The authors conclude that their study therefore helps
to provide robust evidence that consumption of low-fat fermented dairy
products, largely driven by yoghurt intake, is associated with a decreased risk
of developing future type 2 diabetes.
Dr Forouhi stated that
"at a time when we have a lot of other evidence that consuming high
amounts of certain foods, such as added sugars and sugary drinks, is bad for
our health, it is very reassuring to have messages about other foods like
yoghurt and low-fat fermented dairy products, that could be good for our
health."
Story Source:
The above story is
based on materials provided by Diabetologia. Note:
Materials may be edited for content and length.
Journal Reference:
1.
Laura M. O’Connor,
Marleen A. H. Lentjes, Robert N. Luben, Kay-Tee Khaw, Nicholas J. Wareham, Nita
G. Forouhi. Dietary dairy product intake and incident type 2 diabetes:
a prospective study using dietary data from a 7-day food diary. Diabetologia,
2014; DOI: 10.1007/s00125-014-3176-1
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Diabetologia.
"Study shows yogurt consumption reduces the risk of type 2 diabetes."
ScienceDaily. ScienceDaily, 5 February 2014. <www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2014/02/140205184736.htm>.