A new study in the US has found that consuming whole fat dairy products could reduce the risk of type 2 diabetes . Although dairy foods are commonly thought to be bad for you, this research discovered the presence of a rare fatty acid in whole milk, yogurt and cheeses that could bring down the chances of getting type 2 diabetes .
It was shown that those who had more of this fatty acid, called trans-palmitoleic acid, in their blood had their odds of suffering from diabetes by 62 per cent, as compared to people with the lowest blood levels of it.
The study, published in the Annals of Internal Medicine, examined data from more than 3,700 adults over the age of 65 that were part of a cardiovascular health study, and whose blood was checked for the presence of trans-palmitoleic acid, and also for cholesterol, triglycerides, C-reactive protein and glucose levels.
Dariush Mozaffaria, co-director of the program in cardiovascular epidemiology at Brigham and Women’s Hospital and Harvard School of Public Health, commented “people who had higher levels of this fatty acid had better cholesterol and triglyceride levels, lower insulin resistance and lower levels of inflammatory markers.”
The researchers revealed that those people who have higher levels of trans-palmitoleic acid seemed to have lower levels of insulin resistance, and had lower odds of developing type 2 diabetes. However, Dr Mozaffarian warned that there is not yet enough research into the fatty acid to be able to make any dietary recommendations about the best consumption levels of dairy foods.

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