The Potential Role of Yogurt in Weight Management and Prevention of Type 2 Diabetes

Abstract

Yogurt is a semisolid fermented milk product that originated centuries ago and is viewed as an essential food and important source of nutrients in the diet of humans. Over the last 30 years, overweight and obesity have become characteristic of Western and developing countries, which has led to deleterious health outcomes, including cardiovascular disease, type 2 diabetes, hypertension, and other chronic conditions. Recent epidemiological and clinical evidence suggests that yogurt is involved in the control of body weight and energy homeostasis and may play a role in reducing the risk for type 2 diabetes partly via the replacement of less healthy foods in the diet, its food matrix, the effect of specific nutrients such as calcium and protein on appetite control and glycemia, and alteration in gut microbiota. This review will discuss the specific properties that make yogurt a unique food among the dairy products, epidemiological and clinical evidence supporting yogurt's role in body weight, energy balance, and type 2 diabetes, including its potential mechanisms of action and gaps that need to be explored. Key teaching points • Several epidemiological and clinical studies have suggested a beneficial effect of yogurt consumption in the control of body weight and energy homeostasis, although this remains controversial. • Yogurt possesses unique properties, including its nutritional composition; lactic acid bacteria, which may affect gut microbiota; and food matrix, which may have a potential role in appetite and glycemic control. • Potential mechanisms of action of yogurt include an increase in body fat loss, decrease in food intake and increase in satiety, decrease in glycemic and insulin response, altered gut hormone response, replacement of less healthy foods, and altered gut microbiota. • The relative energy and nutrient content and contribution of a standard portion of yogurt to the overall diet suggest that the percentage daily intake of these nutrients largely contributes to nutrient requirements and provides a strong contribution to the regulation of energy metabolism.

Consumption of Yogurt and the Incident Risk of Cardiovascular Disease: A Meta-Analysis of Nine Cohort Studies

“…Although the findings remain controversial, several epidemiological and clinical studies have suggested the potential role of yogurt intake in weight management [38,39]. Obesity, hyperlipoidemia, and high blood pressure are well-known risk factors of CVD and, thus, the above studies indirectly support the beneficial role of yogurt consumption on CVD risk.…”

Dairy product intake and mortality in a cohort of 70-year-old Swedes: a contribution to the Nordic diet discussion

“…In line with this hypothesis, yoghurt consumption has been found to be associated with a healthy weight status and the prevention of type 2 diabetes [32, 33]. Cheese is a source of vitamin K2 (menaquinone) [34] which has been previously associated with a lower risk of cardiovascular disease [35] and which may have contributed to the reduction of mortality risk among cheese consumers.…”

Bioprospecting for Bioactive Peptide Production by Lactic Acid Bacteria Isolated from Fermented Dairy Food

“…FDFs have been the paradigm of healthy food since Metchnikoff's studies [11][12][13][14] (Figure 1). Recently, randomized controlled trials, prospective cohort studies, and meta-analyses supported an inverse relation between consumption of FDFs and overweight [15][16][17][18] or risk of metabolic syndrome [19,20], cardiovascular disease [21][22][23], T2D [24][25][26], and overall mortality [27]. These data should be considered with caution for at least three reasons: the variety of dairy products considered can be a confounding element, which biases inter-studies comparison; dosage has not been harmonized across different experimental cohorts; and the impact of other factors, such as gender and age, has not been considered.…”