When you have diabetes, you end up looking at food in a different way. You don't just think about whether something is fattening or healthy, but also about carbohydrates, how it will affect glucose, whether you will need more or less insulin and what will happen after eating it.
That's why I found research on a fairly everyday food interesting:the yogurt.
A meta-analysis that pooled data from 483,090 people from several countries found a striking association: for every 50 grams of yogurt consumed daily, the risk of developing type 2 diabetes was 7% lower.
It is important to understand well what it means. It does not mean that eating yogurt will prevent type 2 diabetes, much less that it is a treatment. We are talking about an association observed in large populations, within something much more complex such as diet, weight, physical activity, genetics and lifestyle.
But what's interesting is why researchers are paying so much attention to yogurt: the gut microbiota.
We know more and more about the trillions of microorganisms that live in our intestines and their possible relationship with inflammation, the immune system and metabolism. And here fermented foods have a lot to say.
Yogurt is obtained by fermenting milk with live bacteria and, depending on the product, it may incorporate other probiotic strains. In addition, it provides proteins, calcium and other nutrients. Researchers believe that its possible benefits could come not only from these nutrients, but also from the interaction of living microorganisms with our microbiota.
In fact, another study with more than 27,000 participants found that greater consumption of foods with live microorganisms was associated with better cardiometabolic indicators: blood glucose, insulin, triglycerides, HDL cholesterol, blood pressure and waist circumference.
And I find this especially interesting for those of us who live with diabetes, although we must clearly differentiate between preventing type 2 diabetes and controlling diabetes that we already have.
Eating yogurt is not a substitute for medication, insulin, exercise or proper nutrition. It also doesn't mean that any product with the word "yogurt" on it is automatically a good choice. It is advisable to look at the label, because some products contain significant amounts of added sugars, fruit preparations, syrups or ingredients that can significantly change their impact on our glucose.
In my case, in addition to the type of yogurt, I think it is important to observe something that those of us who use sensors know perfectly well: what really happens to our glucose after eating it. Two seemingly similar products can produce quite different responses, and if we also add cereals, honey, fruit or nuts, the story changes again.
The research also talks about butyrate, a substance produced by certain intestinal bacteria that contributes to the maintenance of the intestinal barrier and participates in the regulation of inflammatory and metabolic processes. It is one of the reasons why there is currently so much scientific interest in better understanding the relationship between microbiota, diet and metabolic diseases.
I am left, above all, with an idea that I think is worth repeating: there are no miracle foods.
Yogurt alone does not prevent diabetes nor will it solve glycemic control. But it can be part of a balanced diet and, according to accumulating evidence, fermented foods and the microbiota could be more important for our metabolic health than we thought a few years ago.
And now I'm curious to know your experience: do you usually eat yogurt?
Have you observed differences in your glucose depending on the type of yogurt you consume?
