Eating two servings of dahi, milk or cheese a day can actually lower your risk of diabetes and high blood pressure according to scientists. Recently, a research linked a dairy-rich diet to improved blood sugar levels, blood pressure, and reduced factors that heighten cardiovascular disease risk.
The research, which was published in BMJ Open Diabetes Research journal, aimed to analyse the impact of dairy products on the functioning of various health functions. They deeply studied the impact of a dairy-rich diet in people aged between 35 and 70 from 21 countries across the world, including in India.
Were all dairy products part of the research?
The research included dairy products like milk, yoghurt, yoghurt-based drinks, cheese, and dishes prepared with dairy products, and were classified as full or low fat (1 to 2 per cent).Butter and cream were assessed separately since they aren’t commonly eaten in some of the countries that were a part of the study.
The impact of dairy on metabolic syndrome
The impact of dairy products on the five components of metabolic syndrome in about 113,000 people was studied. What is metabolic syndrome? It’s a cluster of health conditions that occur at the same time, increasing your risk of having heart disease, stroke and type 2 diabetes.Researchers tracked the conditions of high blood pressure, large waist circumference, low levels of high-density (good) cholesterol, high blood fats and increased fasting blood glucose for 12 months. Prior to the study around 46,667 people had metabolic syndrome i.e they had at least three of the five conditions. What was the analysis post-research?
Researchers found that full-fat dairy, but not low-fat dairy, was associated with a lower prevalence of most components of metabolic syndrome. This shows how dairy actually improves the essential functioning of the body. Interestingly, the size of the connection was found greatest in those countries with normally low-dairy intakes.With only two servings of dairy products a day, a 24% lower risk of metabolic syndrome rose to 28% for full-fat dairy alone.“If our findings are confirmed in sufficiently large and long term trials, then increasing dairy consumption may represent a feasible and low-cost approach to reducing metabolic syndrome, diabetes, and ultimately cardiovascular disease events worldwide,” the research stated.
