Key TakeawaysNew research suggests higher fat dairy, like yogurt, may have a protective effect when it comes to prediabetes risk.Dairy intake is not the only thing that influences prediabetes and diabetes risk. Your fat and protein intake matters, too, as well as activity levels and genetic risk factors.

Key Takeaways

New research suggests higher fat dairy, like yogurt, may have a protective effect when it comes to prediabetes risk.Dairy intake is not the only thing that influences prediabetes and diabetes risk. Your fat and protein intake matters, too, as well as activity levels and genetic risk factors.

If you haveprediabetes, it means your blood sugar level tends to run higher than thenormal rangebut not high enough to be considered diabetes. Having prediabetes also puts you at higher risk of diabetes and cardiovascular disease, so it’s important to find ways to bring your blood sugar levels down into a health-supporting range.

There’s no single approach to help everyone with prediabetes, but research has shown that eating a diet rich in vegetables, fermented foods, nutritious fats, and lean protein, as well as getting regular exercise, can be beneficial.

In terms of specific nutrition guidance, the general dietary wisdom is often to go for lower-fat dairy. However, a new study published inThe American Journal of Clinical Nutritionsuggests that for prediabetes risk, higher-fat products might be better.Here’s how to think about choosing the fat content that’s best for your nutrition needs.

Full-Fat Dairy May Actually Be Healthy for Your Heart

To determine whether dairy intake is linked toprediabetes risk, researchers evaluated the dairy intake of over 74,000 participants. At the start of the study, the researchers used a food frequency questionnaire to figure out how much dairy each participant consumed. After about four years of follow-up, they found that 3.7% of the participants had developed prediabetes.

When the researchers looked at dairy intake, they noticed plain and low-fat milk was associated with a higher risk of prediabetes, while high-fat yogurt was associated with a lower risk of prediabetes.

Low-fat milk consumed with energy-dense foods, like bread, meat, and high-fat cheese, was linked to a higher risk of prediabetes.

The reason why high-fat milk might have been linked to a reduced prediabetes risk could be that the fat content may improve satiety and stabilize blood sugar levels,Lisa Andrews, RD, told Verywell.

“As it tends to be digested more slowly, [high-fat dairy] may not raise blood sugar as quickly as lower-fat dairy products,” she said.

Andrews added that a recent literature review did not confirm that dairy products (full- or low-fat) raised the risk of diabetes or cardiovascular disease, and other data has supported the use of low-fat dairy products as part of the DASH or Mediterranean diets for reducing the risk of diabetes.

“Researchers determined…that low-fat milk consumption was more related with a clustering of risk factors and behaviors in relation to prediabetes, such as calorie intake, waist circumference, and more bread consumption,” Amidor said.

USDA Recommends 3 Cups of Dairy Per Day. Is It Too Much?

Should You Choose High or Low-Fat Dairy to Lower Prediabetes Risk?

According to the Centers for Disease Control (CDC), a nutritious diet is part of the foundation for type 2 diabetesprevention, treatment, and management.We’re still learning about the role that dairy of any fat content may play in the prevention of prediabetes and type 2 diabetes, but a few other studies corroborate the pros of higher-fat dairy:

More research is needed to understand the role dietary dairy choices may play in your prediabetes risk and the amount and type of dairy that’s best for you will also depend on your overall health needs and preferences.

What This Means for YouIf you’re concerned about your prediabetes risk, it might be worth including some high-fat dairy in your diet if it fits in with your overall nutrition needs. If you prefer low-fat dairy or it’s better suited to your diet needs, that’s fine too. If you’re not sure, talk to your healthcare provider or a dietician.

What This Means for You

If you’re concerned about your prediabetes risk, it might be worth including some high-fat dairy in your diet if it fits in with your overall nutrition needs. If you prefer low-fat dairy or it’s better suited to your diet needs, that’s fine too. If you’re not sure, talk to your healthcare provider or a dietician.

6 SourcesVerywell Health uses only high-quality sources, including peer-reviewed studies, to support the facts within our articles. Read oureditorial processto learn more about how we fact-check and keep our content accurate, reliable, and trustworthy.Yau JW, Thor SM, Ramadas A.Nutritional strategies in prediabetes: a scoping review of recent evidence.Nutrients. 2020;12(10):2990. doi:10.3390/nu12102990Slurink IA, Corpeleijn E, Bakker SJ, et al.Dairy consumption and incident prediabetes: prospective associations and network models in the large population-based Lifelines Study.Am J Clin Nutr. 2023;118(6):1077-1090. doi:10.1016/j.ajcnut.2023.10.002Hirahatake KM, Astrup A, Hill JO, Slavin JL, Allison DB, Maki KC.Potential cardiometabolic health benefits of full-fat dairy: the evidence base.Adv Nutr.2020;11(3):533-547. doi:10.1093/advances/nmz132Centers for Disease Control.Diabetes basics.Slurink IA, Chen L, Magliano DJ, Kupper N, Smeets T, Soedamah-Muthu SS.Dairy product consumption and incident prediabetes in the Australian Diabetes, Obesity, and Lifestyle Study with 12 years of follow-up.J Nutr. 2023;153(6):1742-1752. doi:10.1016/j.tjnut.2023.03.032Giosuè A, Calabrese I, Riccardi G, Vaccaro O, Vitale M.Consumption of different animal-based foods and risk of type 2 diabetes: an umbrella review of meta-analyses of prospective studies.Diabetes Res Clin Pract. 2022;191:110071. doi:10.1016/j.diabres.2022.110071

6 Sources

Verywell Health uses only high-quality sources, including peer-reviewed studies, to support the facts within our articles. Read oureditorial processto learn more about how we fact-check and keep our content accurate, reliable, and trustworthy.Yau JW, Thor SM, Ramadas A.Nutritional strategies in prediabetes: a scoping review of recent evidence.Nutrients. 2020;12(10):2990. doi:10.3390/nu12102990Slurink IA, Corpeleijn E, Bakker SJ, et al.Dairy consumption and incident prediabetes: prospective associations and network models in the large population-based Lifelines Study.Am J Clin Nutr. 2023;118(6):1077-1090. doi:10.1016/j.ajcnut.2023.10.002Hirahatake KM, Astrup A, Hill JO, Slavin JL, Allison DB, Maki KC.Potential cardiometabolic health benefits of full-fat dairy: the evidence base.Adv Nutr.2020;11(3):533-547. doi:10.1093/advances/nmz132Centers for Disease Control.Diabetes basics.Slurink IA, Chen L, Magliano DJ, Kupper N, Smeets T, Soedamah-Muthu SS.Dairy product consumption and incident prediabetes in the Australian Diabetes, Obesity, and Lifestyle Study with 12 years of follow-up.J Nutr. 2023;153(6):1742-1752. doi:10.1016/j.tjnut.2023.03.032Giosuè A, Calabrese I, Riccardi G, Vaccaro O, Vitale M.Consumption of different animal-based foods and risk of type 2 diabetes: an umbrella review of meta-analyses of prospective studies.Diabetes Res Clin Pract. 2022;191:110071. doi:10.1016/j.diabres.2022.110071

Verywell Health uses only high-quality sources, including peer-reviewed studies, to support the facts within our articles. Read oureditorial processto learn more about how we fact-check and keep our content accurate, reliable, and trustworthy.

Yau JW, Thor SM, Ramadas A.Nutritional strategies in prediabetes: a scoping review of recent evidence.Nutrients. 2020;12(10):2990. doi:10.3390/nu12102990Slurink IA, Corpeleijn E, Bakker SJ, et al.Dairy consumption and incident prediabetes: prospective associations and network models in the large population-based Lifelines Study.Am J Clin Nutr. 2023;118(6):1077-1090. doi:10.1016/j.ajcnut.2023.10.002Hirahatake KM, Astrup A, Hill JO, Slavin JL, Allison DB, Maki KC.Potential cardiometabolic health benefits of full-fat dairy: the evidence base.Adv Nutr.2020;11(3):533-547. doi:10.1093/advances/nmz132Centers for Disease Control.Diabetes basics.Slurink IA, Chen L, Magliano DJ, Kupper N, Smeets T, Soedamah-Muthu SS.Dairy product consumption and incident prediabetes in the Australian Diabetes, Obesity, and Lifestyle Study with 12 years of follow-up.J Nutr. 2023;153(6):1742-1752. doi:10.1016/j.tjnut.2023.03.032Giosuè A, Calabrese I, Riccardi G, Vaccaro O, Vitale M.Consumption of different animal-based foods and risk of type 2 diabetes: an umbrella review of meta-analyses of prospective studies.Diabetes Res Clin Pract. 2022;191:110071. doi:10.1016/j.diabres.2022.110071

Yau JW, Thor SM, Ramadas A.Nutritional strategies in prediabetes: a scoping review of recent evidence.Nutrients. 2020;12(10):2990. doi:10.3390/nu12102990

Slurink IA, Corpeleijn E, Bakker SJ, et al.Dairy consumption and incident prediabetes: prospective associations and network models in the large population-based Lifelines Study.Am J Clin Nutr. 2023;118(6):1077-1090. doi:10.1016/j.ajcnut.2023.10.002

Hirahatake KM, Astrup A, Hill JO, Slavin JL, Allison DB, Maki KC.Potential cardiometabolic health benefits of full-fat dairy: the evidence base.Adv Nutr.2020;11(3):533-547. doi:10.1093/advances/nmz132

Centers for Disease Control.Diabetes basics.

Slurink IA, Chen L, Magliano DJ, Kupper N, Smeets T, Soedamah-Muthu SS.Dairy product consumption and incident prediabetes in the Australian Diabetes, Obesity, and Lifestyle Study with 12 years of follow-up.J Nutr. 2023;153(6):1742-1752. doi:10.1016/j.tjnut.2023.03.032

Giosuè A, Calabrese I, Riccardi G, Vaccaro O, Vitale M.Consumption of different animal-based foods and risk of type 2 diabetes: an umbrella review of meta-analyses of prospective studies.Diabetes Res Clin Pract. 2022;191:110071. doi:10.1016/j.diabres.2022.110071

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