Approximately 415 million people are affected by diabetes worldwide and it is estimated this will increase to 642 million people by 2040, which puts pressure on global healthcare systems. Worried about the risk of developing diabetes? You may think how yogurt can be helpful with that so discover it below.
A 14% lower risk of diabetes with one yogurt a day
That’s the takeaway from several research commented by Prof. Jordi Salas Salvado. This highlights the importance of having yogurt as part of a healthy diet. The large-scale and robust evidence strongly suggests that yogurt intake 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 relationship could be linear: when the frequency of consumption of yogurt grows, the risk of developing T2D decreases.
The most recent meta-analysis reported by Salas about yogurt consumption and the risk of T2D, based on 12 prospective studies and including 438,140 individuals and 36,125 cases of incident diabetes, unveiled a 14% lower risk of T2D for a yogurt consumption around 80-125 g per day, compared with non-yogurt consumption. Interestingly, there is no evidence of a distinct effect between low-fat yogurt and plain yogurt.
Yogurt and diabetes: what’s the connection?
According to the expert, the protective effect of yogurt could be partially explained by direct effects on satiety and/or energy intake, decreasing adiposity and consequently development of insulin resistance and T2D. Dairy products, like yogurt, may also enhance the regulatory effect of insulin. Finally, another important mechanism could be probiotic properties of yogurt, that could have a positive impact on gut microbiota and the regulation of blood sugar level. Dr Salas stated «that at a time, when we have a lot of other evidence that consuming high amounts of certain foods, such as added sugars and sugary drinks, is bad for our health, it is very reassuring to have messages about other foods like yogurt, that could be good for our health.»
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