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A recent study shows that a minimum intake of 28 grams of yogurt per day leads to a 18% lower risk to develop type 2 diabetes, no matter the age, Body Mass Index (BMI) or diet. The study was conducted by a Harvard team and published in the BMC Medicine journal on November 25.
About 26 million people in the US and 14 times more across the globe are affected by type 2 diabetes. WHO estimates that by 2030 half of billion would have this disease worldwide. Diabetes has some further consequences, such as heart disease. That’s why urgent action is needed to prevent diabetes. Type 2 diabetes has recently become a public health concern.
A previous research revealed that a certain bacteria in yogurt could increase antioxidants’ level and normalize the overall fat level in type 2 diabetes patients. Also, the same study suggested that diary products might lower the type 2 diabetes risk due to their rich content of whey protein, vitamin D, calcium, and fatty acids.
Other past studies has also suggested that a daily calcium intake reduced the risks for heart diseases and high blood pressure. However, the recent Harvard study shows that saturated fats in most dairy products cancel their health benefits except for yogurt. Yogurt decreases type 2 diabetes risk by 18 %.
For their study, the Harvard team collected data from three other long-term studies. The first study was conducted on 51,529 US male doctors, pharmacists and vets, with ages ranging from 40 to 75. The second study monitored 121.700 US nurses (aged 30 to 55), while the third collected data on 116.671 US nurses (aged 25 to 42).
When each study began, the participants had to answer some questions about their life style habits and chronic diseases. People that had diabetes, cancer or heart diseases were eliminated from the studies. Every two years, the study groups were questioned again about their life style and health. People that didn’t report that they had been consuming diary products were also eliminated.
In the end, there were left only 41.497 participants for the first study, 67.138 for the second, and 85.884 for the third.
The researchers found no association between overall dairy products intake and the risk of type 2 diabetes, but on a closer look, they noticed people who ate yogurt on a regular basis had a lower chance of developing this disease, despite other disease risk factors, such as age, weight and diet. The minimum recommended serving of yogurt for a 18% lower chance of developing type 2 diabetes was 28g (about 1oz) a day.
