DOES A YOGURT A DAY KEEP DIABETES AWAY
A high intake of
yogurt has been found to be associated with a lower risk of developing type 2
diabetes, according to research published in open access journal BMC Medicine. This highlights
the importance of having yogurt as part of a healthy diet.
Type 2 diabetes is a
chronic condition that occurs when the body doesn't produce enough insulin, or
the body's cells develop resistance to insulin. There is an increased risk of
developing it if a relative has the condition or if an individual has an
unhealthy lifestyle. Approximately 366 million people are affected by type 2
diabetes worldwide and it is estimated this will increase to 552 million people
by 2030, which puts pressure on global healthcare systems.
Researchers from
Harvard School of Public Health pooled the results of three prospective cohort
studies that followed the medical history and lifestyle habits of health
professionals. These studies were the Health Professionals' Follow-up Study
(HFPS), which included 51,529 US male dentists, pharmacists, vets, osteopathic
physicians and podiatrists, aged from 40 to 75 years; Nurses' Health Study
(NHS), which began in 1976, and followed 121,700 female US nurses aged from 30
to 55 years; and Nurses' Health Study II (NHS II), which followed 116,671
female US nurses aged from 25 to 42 years beginning in the year 1989.
At the beginning of
each cohort study, participants completed a questionnaire to gather baseline
information on lifestyle and occurrence of chronic disease. Participants were
then followed up every two years with a follow-up rate of more than 90 per
cent. Participants were excluded if they had diabetes, cardiovascular disease
or cancer at baseline. People were also excluded if they did not include any
information about dairy consumption. This left a total of 41,497 participants
from HPFS, 67,138 from NHS and 85,884 from NHS II.
Mu Chen, the study's
lead author from Harvard School of Public Health, says: "Our study
benefited from having such a large sample size, high rates of follow up and
repeated assessment of dietary and lifestyle factors."
Within the three
cohorts 15,156 cases of type 2 diabetes were identified during the follow-up
period. The researchers found that the total dairy consumption had no
association with the risk of developing type 2 diabetes. They then looked at
consumption of individual dairy products, such as skimmed milk, cheese, whole
milk and yogurt. When adjusting for chronic disease risk factors such as age
and BMI as well as dietary factors, it was found that high consumption of
yogurt was associated with a lower risk of developing type 2 diabetes.
The authors then
conducted a meta-analysis, incorporating their results and other published
studies, up to March 2013, that investigated the association between dairy
products and type 2 diabetes. This found that consumption of one 28g serving of
yogurt per day was associated with an 18 per cent lower risk of type 2
diabetes.
Previous research has
suggested calcium, magnesium, or specific fatty acids present in dairy products
may lower the risk of type 2 diabetes. It has been shown that probiotic
bacteria found in yogurt improves fat profiles and antioxidant status in people
with type 2 diabetes and the researchers suggest this could have a
risk-lowering effect in developing the condition. To confirm this observation,
and investigate whether or not yogurt is causal in the lowering of risk,
randomized controlled trials are needed.
Senior researcher on
the study Frank Hu, Harvard School of Public Health, says: "We found that
higher intake of yogurt is associated with a reduced risk of type 2 diabetes,
whereas other dairy foods and consumption of total dairy did not show this
association. The consistent findings for yogurt suggest that it can be
incorporated into a healthy dietary pattern."
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