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Milk Helps Prevent Diabetes -New Study
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December 21, 2010
By An Lee, Contributing Columnist
Got milk? If you want to prevent diabetes, you certainly should. A new 2010 study has discovered that milk and other dairy foods may help to prevent Type 2 diabetes.
The study, conducted by researchers from Harvard University School of Medicine and Montefiore Medical Center in New York, examined 3700 people over the age of 65 from California, Pennsylvania, Maryland and North Carolina.
Those who consumed the highest amounts of dairy had 60% fewer cases of diabetes. According to Harvard's Dr. Dariush Mozaffarian, 'The magnitude of the association is striking".
The Transfat That's Not All Bad
How does milk fight diabetes? Milk and other dairy products contain a compound called "trans-palmitoleic acid", a compound which your body cannot produce on its own. Interestingly enough, this acid is one of the dreaded "trans-fats" that the American Heart Association and other medical authorities have cautioned us all to avoid, because they have been linked to higher risks of heart disease. The mechanism that this special trans-fat acid uses to fight diabetes is unclear.
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How Much Milk Should You Drink to Fight Diabetes?
But be careful. If you already have diabetes, there is no evidence that drinking milk will help you to lower your blood sugar levels or better control them. Also, because the high fat content of milk can actually increase your risk for developing heart disease in some people, the researchers stopped short of giving specific dietary recommendations for how much milk or dairy you should consume daily to thwart diabetes.
