High-fat dairy may lower risk of developing diabetes

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DIABETES DIGEST – Sept. 17, 2014 – Diet really comes down to complex chemistry that has multifaceted effects on health. As a result, a lot of nutrition research seems to show contradictory findings. Nowhere is this more evident than in the research into nutritional effects on type 2 diabetes. 

Some fats are good and some are bad as far as the risk of diabetes goes. A new study has shown that intake of high-fat dairy products seems to reduce the chance of developing type 2 diabetes.

To look at which types of fats reduce risk of T2D while others seem to increase the risk, Swedish researchers examined intakes of a variety of dietary fat sources, classified according to fat content, and their risk of developing T2D. The researchers, led by Dr. Ulrika Ericson of Lund University, presented their findings at the annual meeting of the European Association for the Study of Diabetes (EASD) in Vienna, Austria Sept. 16.

“The decreased risk at high intakes of high-fat dairy products, but not of low-fat dairy products, indicate that dairy fat, at least partly, explains observed protective associations between dairy intake and T2D,” Ericson said in a press release. “Meat intake was associated with increased risk of developing diabetes regardless of fat content."

The ongoing study involves 26,930 people ages 45-74 who are participating in the ongoing Malmö Diet and Cancer study that has been following these people for 14 years.

During that time 2,860 participants developed type 2 diabetes. The researchers then divided the participants into five groups based on their dietary intake of fats. They then analyzed a laundry list of factors including, age, sex, season, diet assessment method, total energy intake, BMI, leisure time physical activity, smoking, alcohol consumption and education. 

The researchers found that high intake of high-fat dairy products was associated with a 23 percent lower incidence of T2D for the highest consuming 20 percent of participants. People in that group consumed a median eight portions or high-fat dairy per day compared with the lowest consuming 20 percent who consumed a median of one portion per day.

Similarly those who consumed the most high-fat fermented dairy products, such as kefir, sour cream and yogurt reduced their risk by 20 percent compared to those who ate little of these products.

By contrast high intake of meat and meat products were, regardless of fat content, associated with increased risk or type 2 diabetes, but the increased risk was higher for lower fat meats.  Those consuming high-fat meat had a 9 percent increase in their risk of type 2 diabetes, while those consuming low fat meats had a 24 percent increase in their risk.