Eat yoghurt to prevent diabetes

LONDON: A spoonful or two of yoghurt a day could keep diabetes away. Eating 28g daily – about a quarter of a small pot – cuts the odds of developing the disease by almost a fifth, research found.

The study into type 2 diabetes suggests eating yoghurt – preferably unsweetened – could boost the odds of a healthy old age.

Researchers from Harvard School of Public Health in the US collated the results of three studies into diet and health involving almost 200 000 people older than 30. All were free of diabetes at the start but 15 156 developed it by the end.

Analysis of their diets showed that yoghurt seemed to stave off the disease. The team then included other studies, giving them data on almost half a million people that showed 28g a day cut the odds of type 2 diabetes by 18 percent.

The study, published in the journal BMC Medicine, included full-fat and low-fat yoghurt. The researchers believe the benefits may result from bacteria in yoghurt that aid the metabolism and replace bugs in the stomach that would normally pump out obesity-fuelling toxins. – Daily Mail