Yogurt May Cut Diabetes Risk?
While yogurt intake was associated with lower diabetes risk, the researchers did not find a similar effect from other dairy foods.
Researchers are associating yogurt intake with a possible reduced risk of type 2 diabetes. BMC Medicine researchers analyzed cohort food-frequency questionnaire data from three large-scale studies: 41,436 men in the Health Professionals Follow-Up Study (1986 to 2010); 67,138 women in the Nurses’ Health Study (1980 to 2010); and 85,884 women in the Nurses’ Health Study II (1991 to 2009).
“Our updated meta-analysis suggested that each one serving/day yogurt increase was significantly associated with a 18% lower risk,” they wrote.
While yogurt intake was associated with lower diabetes risk, the researchers did not find a similar effect from other dairy foods.
Why might yogurt in particular be helpful? While warning that randomized controlled trials are needed to explore mechanisms of action, the researchers said that probiotic bacteria may play a role. Also, “certain components in dairy products, such as calcium, vitamin D, magnesium, lactose, and dairy protein, have been suggested to have a favorable impact on metabolic factors, including body weight, hypertension, and glucose homeostasis,” they noted, and that milk proteins like whey may improve glucose tolerance thanks to their “insulinotropic properties” and low glycemic load.
Jennifer Grebow
Editor-in-Chief
Nutritional Outlook magazine
jennifer.grebow@ubm.com
Photo © iStockphoto.com/Elenathewise
