A recent study published in the Diabetologia journal showed that the consumption of yogurt could decrease the risk of type 2 diabetes by 28%. Researchers at the University of Cambridge found that those with higher consumption of low fat dairy products, including low fat cheeses and yogurt, reduced the risk of diabetes by 24% overall.
This study was based on the EPIC-Norfolk study including 25,000 men and women living in Norfolk, UK. This study compared the food and drink consumption of the 753 people who developed new onset type 2 diabetes over 11 years of follow up to 3,502 randomly selected participants from the EPIC-Norfolk study. This study doesn’t prove that that eating dairy will decrease the risk of type 2 diabetes but it does show a connection. The actual mechanism as to why low fat dairy products deceases risk of type 2 diabetes is still unclear.
Yogurt and low fat dairy is a good thing to add to any diet. Dairy does contain vitamin D, magnesium, and calcium. Some yogurts and dairy contain probiotics which may help the digestive system (although more research is needed in this area). If you want to add some flavor to yogurt add some fresh fruit!
