WASHINGTON — There’s good news for fans of yogurt: A new study by the
National
Institutes of Health finds that eating more yogurt can lower your risk of Type
2
diabetes.
However, the study,
published in BMC Medicine, found that other dairy foods don’t have an effect
on diabetes risk. Researchers looked at individual dairy products, including
skim milk, cheese, and yogurt. But they found a highest consumption of yogurt
went hand-in-hand with a lower risk of type 2 diabetes.
In the study, participants filled out a health and lifestyle questionnaire at
the beginning of the study and researchers followed up with their health every
two years and gave them additional questionnaires. A total of 194,519
participants were
eligible for the study.
The participants’ consumption of dairy products such as cheese, skim milk,
whole milk and yogurt was analyzed. After analyzing the participants’ health
predispositions, researchers found an association between high yogurt intake
and a lower risk of type 2 diabetes development.
The study concluded that eating a 28-gram serving of yogurt every day was
associated with an 18 percent lower risk of type 2 diabetes developing.
Type 2 diabetes affects 26 million people in the U.S. and 366 million people
worldwide, with the number estimated to rise to 552 million by 2030. People
with type 2 diabetes are at a higher risk of developing cardiovascular
diseases,
such as coronary heart disease and stroke.
“Our study benefited from having such a large sample size, high rates of
follow up and repeated assessment of dietary and lifestyle factors,” lead
author Mu Chen said to Medical News Today.
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