Dairy Intake has Little if Any Effect on Diabetes Risk

Dairy Intake has Little If Any Effect on Diabetes Risk

According to the Dietary Guidelines for Americans 2010, a moderate body of evidence shows that adequate intake of milk and milk products is associated with a reduced risk of type 2 diabetes in adults. A major study of diet and disease in eight European countries has important information on the possible relationship between dairy product intakes and diabetes. The European study was conducted from 1991 to 2007. The study’s major conclusion was that total dairy product intake was not found to be associated with diabetes either positively or negatively. However, a possible relationship was found for fermented dairy products – people who ate the most fermented dairy products such as cheese and yogurt had slightly lower rates of diabetes.

The study did not include butter but it did include a range of dairy products with no, low, and full fat content. The study was not large enough to show whether low-fat dairy had an advantage over full-fat products. Also, this study did not examine the associations between milk/dairy and overall health or other specific diseases such as osteoporosis and heart disease.

Susan Nitzke: UW-Extension Nutrition Specialist and UW-Madison Professor Emeritus