Prof. Seppo Salminen (University of Turku / Finland) unveiled dietary guidelines for dairy and yogurt consumption and the growing interest in evidence-based recommendations by government bodies. Watch now the slideshow.
“Our data suggest that yogurt and milk can play a key role in fighting obesity and CVD in adolescents,” says Professor Luis A. Moreno from the University of Zaragoza in Spain, who presented the findings at the III World Congress of Public Health Nutrition in Spain. Watch now the slideshow.
Evidence is mounting that consuming yogurt in particular as part of a healthy diet helps to prevent type 2 diabetes and other cardiometabolic risk factors, with one of the most recent studies suggesting that people who regularly eat yogurt are almost 30% less likely to develop type 2 diabetes than those who do not.
Speaking to public health officials at the III World Congress of Public Health Nutrition in Spain, Dr André Marette from the Heart and Lung Institute of Laval Hospital in Quebec, Canada, said it was time to recognize the all-round health benefits of yogurt and encourage more people to eat yogurt on a daily basis. Watch now the slideshow.
Speaking to public health officials at the III World Congress of Public Health Nutrition in Spain, Professor Frans J Kok from the Division of Human Nutrition at Wageningen University in the Netherlands, underlined the potentially unique role of daily yogurt consumption for weight management.
He also highlighted the need for randomized controlled trials and mechanistic studies to help understand how this might occur. Watch now the slideshow.
The aim of this study was to clarify whether these effects can be seen in the long-term on systolic BP, diastolic BP, and the risk of hypertension in adults in the Framingham Offspring Study. 1,351 volunteers with no history of cardiovascular disease were followed for a period of over 11 years by means of two diet histories assessing their intake of dietary proteins, adjusted according to their body weight. Higher protein intakes were associated with lower diastolic and systolic BP.
Overall, higher protein intakes also significantly lowered the risk of high BP by almost 40%. Furthermore, when high protein intake was combined with high fibre intake, the risk of high BP was even lower (by 59%).
Lastly, analysis of the different protein fractions shows that risk is also reduced with consumption of both animal and plant proteins in isolation, by 32% and 49% respectively.
A high intake of yogurt has been found to be associated with a lower risk of developing type 2 diabetes, according to research published in open access journal BMC Medicine. This highlights the importance of having yogurt as part of a healthy diet and confirms results of other recent studies.
Researchers from Harvard School of Public Health pooled the results of three prospective cohort studies that followed the medical history and lifestyle habits of health professionals.
These studies were the Health Professionals’ Follow-up Study (HFPS), which included 51,529 US male dentists, pharmacists, vets, osteopathic physicians and podiatrists, aged from 40 to 75 years; Nurses’ Health Study (NHS), which began in 1976, and followed 121,700 female US nurses aged from 30 to 55 years; and Nurses’ Health Study II (NHS II), which followed 116,671 female US nurses aged from 25 to 42 years beginning in the year 1989.
At the beginning of each cohort study, participants completed a questionnaire to gather baseline information on lifestyle and occurrence of chronic disease. Participants were then followed up every two years with a follow-up rate of more than 90 per cent.
Participants were excluded if they had diabetes, cardiovascular disease or cancer at baseline. People were also excluded if they did not include any information about dairy consumption. This left a total of 41,497 participants from HPFS, 67,138 from NHS and 85,884 from NHS II.
Within the three cohorts 15,156 cases of type 2 diabetes were identified during the follow-up period. The researchers found that the total dairy consumption had no association with the risk of developing type 2 diabetes. They then looked at consumption of individual dairy products, such as skimmed milk, cheese, whole milk and yogurt.
When adjusting for chronic disease risk factors such as age and BMI as well as dietary factors, it was found that high consumption of yogurt was associated with a lower risk of developing type 2 diabetes. The authors then conducted a meta-analysis, incorporating their results and other published studies, up to March 2013, that investigated the association between dairy products and type 2 diabetes. This found that consumption of one 28g serving of yogurt per day was associated with an 18 per cent lower risk of type 2 diabetes.
Previous research has suggested calcium, magnesium, or specific fatty acids present in dairy products may lower the risk of type 2 diabetes. It has been shown that probiotic bacteria found in yogurt improves fat profiles and antioxidant status in people with type 2 diabetes and the researchers suggest this could have a risk-lowering effect in developing the condition. To confirm this observation, and investigate whether or not yogurt is causal in the lowering of risk, randomized controlled trials are needed.
Data from the What We Eat in America (WWEIA) tables from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) was examined as well as survey data from the School Nutrition Dietary Assessment Study (SNDA). 97% of children eat snack which contribute to 37% of children’s energy intake and consist of almost 40% of the added sugar.
The diets of American children aged 2 to 11 contains surplus energy and sugars but insufficient Vitamin D, calcium, and potassium. One way to address the insufficiencies and excesses of children’s diets would be to change the nutrient density of children’s snacks. Foods high in added sugars and energy currently dominate children’s snack choices.
Yogurt, fruit, and vegetables are naturally rich sources of the 2010 DGA’s nutrients of concern and are also foods that children do not consume in sufficient quantity. According to the USDA’s National Nutrient Database for Standard Reference, a typical serving of Vitamin D fortified, fruit-flavoured, low fat yogurt (6 oz (~170g)) contains 235mg calcium, 301mg potassium, 2.2µg Vitamin D, and 31g sugar.
So, Adding one 6oz (~170g) serving of yogurt each day would provide enough calcium for children aged 9 to 11 to meet the recommended level of intake, and would increase vitamin D and potassium consumption for children of all age groups help children move closer to DGA recommendations for almost all of the nutrients of concern; combining yogurt with fruit or vegetables for snacks would also increase consumption of all nutrients of concern.
New research presented at this year’s annual meeting of the European Association for the Study of Diabetes (EASD) in Vienna, Austria, shows that people with the highest consumption of high-fat dairy products (8 or more portions per day) have a 23% lower risk of developing type 2 diabetes than those with the lowest consumption (1 or less per day).
Dietary fats can affect glucose metabolism and insulin sensitivity and may therefore play a crucial role in the development of type 2 diabetes (T2D). Studies have indicated that replacing saturated fat with monounsaturated and polyunsaturated fats might be favourable in the prevention of T2D. In line with this, it has been suggested that plant sources of fat may be a better choice compared with animal sources.
Indeed, high intakes of red meat and meat products have been shown to increase the risk of T2D. Nevertheless, several epidemiological studies have indicated that a high intake of dairy products may actually be protective. As a result, the importance of dietary fat content and food sources of fat requires further clarification. In this new study, the authors aimed to examine intakes of main dietary fat sources, classified according to fat content, and their association with the risk of developing T2D.
The study involved 26,930 individuals (60% women), aged 45-74 years, from the population-based Malmö Diet and Cancer cohort. Dietary data was collected with a modified diet history method. During 14 years of follow up, 2,860 incident T2D cases were identified. Modelling was used to estimate hazard ratios (HR) of diabetes incidence in quintiles of energy adjusted dietary intakes.
The researchers found that a high intake of high-fat dairy products was associated with a 23% lower incidence of T2D for the highest consuming 20% of participants (or quintile) (median=8 portions/day) compared with the lowest consuming 20% (median=1 portion/day).
In relation to intakes of specific high-fat dairy foods, an increased intake of cream (30ml or more per day in the highest consuming 20%, versus 0.3ml per day or less in the lowest consuming 20%) was associated with a 15% reduction in the risk of developing type 2 diabetes. Consumption of high-fat fermented milk also reduced the risk of developing diabetes by 20%, when the highest consumers (180ml/day, the top 10% of consumers) were compared with the non-consumers (60% of participants).
In contrast to these findings, there was no association found between intakes of low-fat dairy products and a risk of developing type 2 diabetes.
Two recent studies highlighted the benefits of regular yogurt consumption, particularly in type 2 diabetes prevention. Our infographic“Dairy, yogurt and diabetes by figures: facts to know” is actually based on this exciting research, but also on other great findings, such as previous studies that have examined the connection between low-fat dairy and a reduced risk of type 2 diabetes.
It is now clear that much more is to come in the research into the health benefits of yogurt, specifically in the area of diabetes risk and prevention.
Children who drink non-cow’s milk-like beverages such as rice, almond, soy juices or goat’s milk, have lower levels of vitamin D in their blood than those who drink cow’s milk, according to a new study published in the Canadian Medical Association Journal.
Non-cow’s milk is becoming increasingly popular because of perceived health benefits, milk allergies and/or lactose intolerance. The study involved 3,821 healthy children aged one to six. Researchers looked at differences in blood levels of vitamin D associated with drinking cow’s milk and non-cow’s milk. The children were recruited from seven Toronto pediatric or family medicine practices that are part of a research network called TARGet Kids!
Eighty-seven per cent of children involved in the study drank predominantly cow’s milk and thirteen per cent drank non-cow’s milk. “Children drinking only non-cow’s milk were more than twice as likely to be vitamin D deficient as children drinking only cow’s milk” said Dr. Jonathon Maguire, a pediatrician and researcher with St. Michael’s Hospital. “Among children who drank non-cow’s milk, every additional cup of non-cow’s milk was associated with a five per cent drop in vitamin D levels per month.” These findings may be helpful to health care providers working with children who regularly consume non-cow’s milk due to a cow’s milk allergy, lactose intolerance or dietary preference”, said Dr. Maguire.
