Food is important for our survival, but our dietary pattern also tells us something about chances of developing nasty diseases. Eating a lot of fat, for example, does not bode well for your heart and blood vessels. When it comes to food, recent studies have shown that chocolate has all kinds of beneficial effects. Now, a study conducted by a large European consortium of researchers revealed that eating cheese and other fermented dairy products helps to prevent diabetes.
Case-cohort
A total of 340.234 people were allowed into the study, of which a total of 12.403 people developed diabetes type II over time. They were matched with 16.835 controls, being people that did not develop diabetes during the follow-up time, in what is called a case-cohort study. In order to discover the effects of consumption of dairy products, the scientists excluded possible confounding factors, such as nationality, age, sex, education and general diabetes risk factors.
Results
After evaluating the differences in patients and healthy controls, the researchers determined that cheese consumption results in a 12 percent decreased chance of developing diabetes. All dairy products taken together, no statistical differences were found, but when only looking at fermented products, such as yoghurt and cheese, the scientists again noted the 12 percent decrease in diabetes incidence.
Outlook
The scientists are rather careful with drawing conclusions from their results. According to them, the results warrant further investigation, and can by no means be used to make a definite judgement regarding consumption of dairy products. For example, it is necessary to dive into the mechanism that renders cheese able to reduce the risk of developing diabetes.
Case-cohort
A total of 340.234 people were allowed into the study, of which a total of 12.403 people developed diabetes type II over time. They were matched with 16.835 controls, being people that did not develop diabetes during the follow-up time, in what is called a case-cohort study. In order to discover the effects of consumption of dairy products, the scientists excluded possible confounding factors, such as nationality, age, sex, education and general diabetes risk factors.
Results
After evaluating the differences in patients and healthy controls, the researchers determined that cheese consumption results in a 12 percent decreased chance of developing diabetes. All dairy products taken together, no statistical differences were found, but when only looking at fermented products, such as yoghurt and cheese, the scientists again noted the 12 percent decrease in diabetes incidence.
Outlook
The scientists are rather careful with drawing conclusions from their results. According to them, the results warrant further investigation, and can by no means be used to make a definite judgement regarding consumption of dairy products. For example, it is necessary to dive into the mechanism that renders cheese able to reduce the risk of developing diabetes.
This is a super interesting study! diabetes runs in my family and I have always tried to live healthy with diabetes running in my blood. Maybe I should just start eating more cheese? Thanks for the post!
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