Diabetes Type 2 Treatment: Yogurt & Cheese Reduce Risks of Disease

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A study conducted by Lund University, Sweden has shown that high fat yogurt and cheese could reduce the risk of type 2 diabetes by one fifth, reports dna. The researchers also observed that excessive consumption of meat could increase the risk of the disease.

Ulrika Ericson, the research lead, said, "Those who ate the most high-fat dairy products had a 23% lower risk of developing type 2 diabetes than those who ate the least."

She also added, "High meat consumption was linked to an increased risk of type 2 diabetes regardless of the fat content of the meat," quotes dna.

The dietary habit information of about 27,000 people, aged between 45 and 74, who participated in the Malmo Diet and Cancer study in early 1990s were analysed in the study. According to dna, it was observed that nearly 2,860 people, approximately ten percent of the participants, developed type 2 diabetes in 20 years.

The researchers looked at different sources of saturated fat rather than considering saturated fat consumption as one single factor, notes dna. That is because both meat and dairy products contain saturated fats but certain fatty acids are particularly common in dairy than in meat.

Ericson said, "...we have not ruled out the possibility that other components of dairy products such as yoghurt and cheese may have contributed to our results. We have taken into account many dietary and lifestyle factors in our analysis, such as fermentation, calcium, vitamin D and physical activity. However, there may be other factors that we have not been able to measure that are shared by those who eat large quantities of high-fat dairy products," quoted dna.

"Moreover, different food components can interact with each other. For example, in one study, saturated fat in cheese appeared to have less of a cholesterol-raising effect than saturated fat in butter. Our results suggest that we should not focus solely on fat, but rather consider what foods we eat. Many foodstuffs contain different components that are harmful or beneficial to health, and it is the overall balance that is important," she added, per dna.

A previous study, published in BMC Medicine, reports that yogurt offers greater protection against diabetes than other dairy products like milk and cheese.

According to Forbes, Frank Hu, the lead author of the study and researcher at the Harvard School of Public Health, said that the mechanism involved in making yogurt much healthier than other dairy products are not known. "One hypothesis is that the probiotics in yogurt may help to improve insulin sensitivity and reduce inflammation, but this hypothesis needs to be tested in randomized clinical trials," Hu was quoted as saying.