In the May ’13 issue of Nutritional Journal, an article published by the Universities Of Buffalo and Manitoba involved diabetic patients that made low-fat dairy part of their diet. There were two groupings of patients that maintained their normal diet and normal exercise patterns. One group was told to consume 4 servings daily of low-fat dairy products. The other group was instructed to eat no more than 2 servings daily of the low-fat products. This was done for 6 months. Then the groups were switched which is called a crossover study. Those consuming four servings went to two serving or less and the group consuming two serving where told they must consume four for 6 more months. The study lasted a total for 12 months.
Results showed significantly less insulin resistance in the 4 low-fat dairy servings per day group. This improved insulin resistance by 11% and reduced plasma insulin by 9%. When you lower insulin resistance, insulin allows more glucose into the cells thereby lowing sugar levels in the body. If plasma insulin levels are reduced you get better control of weight and lessening of diabetic progression.
Another plus with the 4 serving of low-fat dairy products was that it had a neutral effect on weight and cholesterol status. So patients had no weight gain and their cholesterol and triglyceride levels stayed the same. Which makes sense because of the reduction in both insulin resistance and plasma insulin.
If diabetic patient’s status improves, these changes will most likely decrease the long-term consequences of the disease. Diabetes leads to heart disease, kidney failure and amputation. That is why it is so important to keep the blood glucose levels in the normal range.
Renovating Your Mind always advises the purchase of organic dairy products. They are more expensive but with much lesser chance of contamination than with non-organic selections.
Sugar becomes a problem when it starts hanging with its sweet buddies outside the cells. The excess of this simple carbohydrate starts damaging blood vessels, eyes, nerves, etc. Basically in excess, any body part it comes into contact with incurs slow and steady damage. Insulin plays the part of greeter and doorman. It first exchanges chemical pleasantries with sugar and then opens the cell door. Sugar welcomes the invite, moves in and gives cells the energy they need to maintain, grow and prosper.
From the study’s results, it looks like low-fat dairy is somehow allowing the normalization of sugar’s entry into the cell where it belongs. My theory is that it has something to do with a unique property of dairy’s proteins. The beneficial effects may also involve other nutrients in the milk including lactose (milk sugar). More research will help to determine what actual factors in milk are causing these positive results.
I would love to see a study utilizing no-fat dairy in place of low-fat. This way we can see if fat has any role in these results. How’s it hanging? 🙂
Thanks Ashley Cooper. What a body! 🙂
Renovating Your Mind 
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