This recent study published in the British Journal of Nutrition by a team of researchers was headed by Université Laval Professor Angelo Tremblay.

His team tried to determine whether the consumption of probiotics could help reset the balance of the intestinal microbiota in favor of bacteria that promote a healthy weight. To test their hypothesis, researchers recruited 125 overweight men and women.

The subjects underwent a 12-week weight-loss diet, followed by a 12-week period aimed at maintaining body weight. Throughout the entire study, half the participants swallowed 2 pills daily containing probiotics from the Lactobacillus rhamnosus family, while the other half received a placebo. After the 12-week diet period, researchers observed an average weight loss of 4.4 kg in women in the probiotic group and 2.6 kg in the placebo group. However, no differences in weight loss were observed among males in the two groups.

After the 12-week maintenance period, the weight of the women in the placebo group had remained stable but the probiotic group had continued to lose weight, for a total of 5.2 kg per person. In short, women consuming probiotics lost twice as much weight over the 24-week study period of the study. Researchers also noted a drop in the appetite-regulating hormone leptin in this group, as well as a lower overall concentration of the intestinal bacteria related to obesity.

According to Angelo Tremblay, probiotics may act by altering the permeability of the intestinal wall. By keeping certain pro-inflammatory molecules from entering the bloodstream, they might help prevent the chain reaction that leads to glucose intolerance, type 2 diabetes, and obesity.

Source: Sanchez M et al. British Journal of Nutrition, 2013; 1 DOI: 10.1017/S0007114513003875

Scientists at the University of Cambridge found that in fact higher consumption of low-fat fermented dairy products, which include all yogurt varieties and some low-fat cheeses, also reduced the relative risk of diabetes by 24% overall.

When examined separately from the other low-fat fermented dairy products, yogurt, which makes up more than 85% of these products, was associated with a 28% reduced risk of developing diabetes. This risk reduction was observed among individuals who consumed an average of four and a half standard 125 g pots of yogurt per week..

Source : Oconnor LM Diabetologia 2014 DOI 10.1007/s00125-014-3176-1

Every year positive scientific studies are published about the health benefits of dairy products. The French dairy board, Cniel, continuously monitors these studies, which allows it to develop scientific arguments to answer questions about the nutritional and health benefits of dairy products.

In order to keep track of all these studies and facilitate research, Cniel publishes a “Best Of” for professionals. Best of yaourt (Best of Yogurt) is a compilation of the most recent and relevant studies to help you better understand the potential health benefits of yogurt.

The data from MONA LISA-NUT 2005-2007 essentially indicate that total consumption of dairy products, milk and fresh dairy products (notably yoghurt) has a significant and negative correlation with the risk of HTN, dyslipidaemia (increase in LDL-C or TGs), metabolic syndrome, as well as the risk of death due to cardiovascular disease in the 10 years that follow.

With regard to cheese, this is not linked to cardiovascular risk factors, whatever the level of consumption. We can also note that consumers of dairy products have a more balanced diet: they eat more fruit and vegetables, fish, meat, chicken and eggs and drink less alcohol. These results are reinforced by the recent data emanating from the well-known prospective study ‘MONICA2’, carried out in the same 3 regions in France, but only using men.

After 15 years of monitoring, the mortality rate due to any cause was lowest among those who consumed dairy products, with a reduction of 39%, 51% and 39% for milk, yogurts and fromage frais, and cheeses respectively.

Source : Kai SH, Bongard V, Simon C, Ruidavets JB, Arveiler D, Dallongeville J, Wagner A, Amouyel P, Ferrières J. Eur J Prev Cardiol. 2013 Sep 3. [Epub ahead of print]

This study examined relationships between energy, protein and calcium consumption from dairy foods (milk, yoghurt, cheese, dairy spreads, ice-cream) and adiposity (BMI, waist and hip circumference (WC and HC, dual energy X-ray absorptiometry) in 720 overweight/obese Australian +50 men and women.

Reduced-fat milk was the most commonly consumed dairy product (235 g/day), followed by whole milk (63 g/day) and yoghurt (53 g/day). Overall dairy food consumption (g/day) was significantly and inversely associated with BMI, % of body fat and WC. Dairy protein and dairy calcium were both inversely associated with all adiposity measures.

Yogurt consumption was inversely associated with % body fat, abdominal fat, WC and HC, while reduced-fat milk consumption was inversely associated with BMI, WC, HC and % body fat.

Source: Murphy KJ et al. Nutrients 2013 ; 5(11) : 4665-84.

When diners belly-up to a buffet, food order matters.

When healthy foods are first, eaters are less likely to desire the higher calorie dishes later in the line, says a new Cornell University behavioral study in PLOS ONE. The researchers offered two breakfast buffets to 124 people. In one, diners saw healthy food like fruit, low-fat yogurt and low-fat granola first.

At the other buffet, dinners saw high-calorie offerings such as cheesy eggs, fried potatoes and bacon first. The results showed that the first three food items a person encountered in the buffet comprised 66 percent of their total plate, regardless of whether the items were high or low-calorie foods. Specifically, 86 percent of diners took fruit when it was offered first, but only 54 percent took fruit when it was offered last.

About 75 percent of diners took cheesy eggs when they were offered first, compared with only 29 percent who dished them up when they were offered last.

Source : Wansink B, Hanks AS (2013) Slim by Design: Serving Healthy Foods First in Buffet Lines Improves Overall Meal Selection. PLoS ONE 8(10): e77055. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0077055

A positive correlation between the early introduction of dairy in infancy and the incidence of type 1 diabetes in genetically predisposed infants has been suggested by studies on rodents and humans, but are controversial.

On the other hand, an inverse relationship between the consumption of dairy foods and the development of metabolic syndrome and/or type 2 diabetes has been implied by epidemiological studies. Low-fat milk products appear to be consistently associated with a lower risk of type 2 diabetes. The role of high-fat milk products is less clear. Evidence suggests that cheese and fermented milk products may also have a beneficial effect.

Several dairy components, especially milk proteins, could play a role in the protective effect on glucose regulation by modulation of incretin hormones. Randomized controlled clinical studies and mechanistic studies are needed for more definitive answers.

Source : Lacroix IM et al. Crit Rev Food Sci Nutr. 2014;54(4):411-32

This study from Harvard Medical School examined associations of milk, yogurt, cheese, cream, most dairy and fluid dairy with bone mineral density at femoral neck (FN), trochanter (TR), and spine, and with incident hip fracture over 12-year follow-up in the Framingham Offspring Study. 3,212 participants (+/- 55 years) completed a food frequency questionnaire and were followed for hip fracture until 2005. 2,506 participants had DXA bone mineral density (BMD).

Results indicate that not all dairy products are equally beneficial for the skeleton. Most dairy intake was positively associated with hip and spine BMD. Intake of fluid dairy and milk was related with hip but not spine BMD. Yogurt intake was associated with TR-BMD alone.

Cheese and cream intakes were not associated with BMD. Yogurt intake, only, showed a weak protective trend for hip fracture from 4 servings a week.

 Source : Sahni S et al. Arch Osteoporos 2013 ; 8(1-2) : 119.

Consumption of dairy products may be sometimes discouraged by concern about the risk of obesity and CVD.

Some intervention studies have reported that the prevalence of obesity may be in part inversely related to dairy food consumption while others report no association.

This study examined relationships between energy, protein and calcium consumption from dairy foods (milk, yogurt, cheese, dairy spreads, ice-cream) and adiposity (BMI, waist (WC) and hip circumference (HC), % body fat and abdominal fat) in 720 overweight/obese Australian men and women.

Results showed that overall dairy food consumption (g/day) was inversely associated with BMI, % body fat and WC. Dairy protein and dairy calcium (g/day) were both inversely associated with all adiposity measures. Yogurt consumption (g/day) was inversely associated with % body fat, abdominal fat, WC and HC while reduced fat milk consumption was inversely associated with BMI, WC, HC and % body fat.

Source : Murphy KJ et al. Nutrients 2013, 5, 4665-4684; doi:10.3390/nu5114665

Results showed that dairy emerged as the food group best discriminating adolescents at low/high CVD risk. In both genders, waist circumference and sum of skin-folds were inversely associated with consumption of milk and yogurt, and milk and yogurt-based beverages.

A positive association was also observed for higher dairy consumption (for milk and yogurt as well) with higher cardiorespiratory fitness in both genders. Moreover, CVD risk score was also inversely associated with overall dairy consumption, but only in girls.

 Source : Bel-Serrat S et al. Pediatr Obes 2013 ; doi: 10.1111/j.2047-6310.2013.00187.x