An interesting prospective study undertaken by the researchers at Massachusetts General Hospital and the Harvard School of Public Health, has shown that higher intake of low-fat dairy may lower the risk of type II diabetes in men.
In type II diabetes, either the body does not produce enough insulin or the cells ignore the insulin. Insulin is necessary for the body to be able to use sugar. Type II diabetes typically occurs in individuals older than 40 years who have a family history of diabetes. Lifestyle factors such as diet, exercise and weight are established risk factors for type II diabetes. The present study was undertaken to examine the direct relation between dairy intake and diabetes as previous studies had shown that dairy intake reduces risk of coronary artery diseases and gout. The information was collected from the questionnaires administered on 41254 males who had no prior history of diabetes, cardiovascular diseases and cancer from the Health Professionals Follow-up Study. 1243 incident cases of type II diabetes were recorded during the 12 years of follow-up. The possible relation between dairy intake and the incident cases of type II diabetes was studied which showed that the risk was more in the those who had consumed less dairy intake as compared to those who had taken higher amounts.Another finding highlighted by the study was that an increase in total dairy intake each day was associated with a 9% lower risk for type II diabetes. Also those who had consumed low fat intake had reduced risk of developing type II diabetes.
The study has shown that consumption of Dairy products, especially the low fat type defends against type II diabetes.
