Eating Yogurt Might Reduce Type 2 Diabetes Risk: Study

Researchers have found a new way to reduce the risk of type 2 diabetes. Eat yogurt!

University of Cambridge researchers found that high consumption of yogurt can cut down the risk of type 2 diabetes by 28 percent. They also found that eating more low-fat fermented dairy products that include all yogurt varieties and some low-fat cheeses can also reduce the relative risk of diabetes by 24 percent overall.

For the study, the scientists kept a track of the daily food and drinks consumption of the participants of the EPIC-Norfolk study, which includes more than 25,000 men and women living in Norfolk, UK and who developed new-onset type 2 diabetes over 11 years of follow-up with 3,502 randomly selected study participants, the researchers explain in a press release.

They analyzed the lifestyle factors, education, obesity levels, other eating habits and total calorie intake. The found greater consumption of low-fat fermented dairy products accounted for a 24 percent lower risk of developing type 2 diabetes over 11 years.

But, if analyzed separately, the researchers found yogurt was associated with a 28 percent reduced risk of developing diabetes.

They pointed out that those who ate an average of four and a half standard 125g pots of yogurt a week were found to have a reduced risk of type 2 diabetes.

"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 yoghurt and low-fat fermented dairy products, that could be good for our health," lead researcher Dr Nita Forouhi said.

The findings are published in the journal Diabetologia.