Association between consumption of dairy products and incident type 2 diabetes—insights from the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer study

Abstract

The public health burden of type 2 diabetes has risen unabated over the past decades, fueled by obesity and lifestyle influences, including diet quality. Epidemiological evidence is accumulating for an inverse association between dairy product intake and type 2 diabetes risk; this is somewhat counterintuitive to the saturated fat and cardiometabolic disease paradigm. The present report reviews the contribution that the findings of the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer (EPIC) study have made to this debate, noting that types of dairy products, particularly fermented dairy products including yogurt, may be more relevant than overall dairy intake for the prevention of type 2 diabetes. The EPIC study has contributed evidence through complementary approaches of a large prospective study across 8 European countries with heterogeneous dietary intakes assessed using food-frequency questionnaires (EPIC-InterAct study) and through a more detailed examination of diet assessed using a 7-day food diary (EPIC-Norfolk study). The implications of these findings are placed in the wider context, including the use of individual fatty acid blood biomarkers in the EPIC-InterAct study and an appraisal of current research gaps and suggestions for future research directions.

Milk fat biomarkers and cardiometabolic disease

“…To date, there is no evidence for a direct role of OCFAs in improving glucose metabolism. Cause and effect needs to be confirmed by randomized trials, and the mechanisms behind a possible diabetes preventive effect of dairy food is unknown [69]. Several components in dairy foods may however be of interest e.g.…”

Dairy Products Consumption and Risk of Type 2 Diabetes: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis of Prospective Cohort Studies

“…Nowadays, diabetes is the most common metabolic disease with an incidence of 2.8% in the year 2000; if this situation persists, the incidence is expected to rise to 4.4% in the year 2030 (2). Currently, 382 million people are afflicted with diabetes worldwide and it is predicted that this number is 552 million people in 2030 (3,4). Diabetes is one of the disasters of the current century, responsible for the death of 9 million people a year and 9% of total global death cases (5).…”

Dairy products consumption in Brazil is associated with socioeconomic and demographic factors: Results from the National Dietary Survey 2008-2009

“…An increasing number of reports have focused on dairy products including different types of milk, yogurts and cheeses as an important source of nutrients, such as vitamins A, B1, B2, B12, vitamin D in fortified products, and the minerals potassium, phosphorus, magnesium, zinc, and calcium [7][8][9][10][11] . Moreover, the evidence suggests an association between the consumption of dairy products and decreased risk of developing non-transmissible chronic diseases [12][13][14][15][16][17][18][19][20] , including osteoporosis 21 , an important public health problem in Brazil. Low intake of calcium, a nutrient found in high concentrations in dairy products, increases the risk of osteoporosisinduced fractures 22 .…”