Saturated fat in dairy 'may protect against diabetes'

Conclusion This study has found an association between higher levels of odd-chain and long chain fatty acids, and a reduced risk of developing diabetes. Higher levels of even-chain fatty acids were associated with an increased risk of developing diabetes. Strengths of the study include: the large number of participants and diversity, coming from eight European countries a wide range of diets prospective nature of the study, capturing blood levels before diabetes onset diabetes status was not determined by self-report only However, limitations of the study include: The blood measurement of the saturated fatty acids did not measure the overall amount of saturated fatty acids in the blood, it just looked at the proportion of the different types of saturated fatty acids in each individual. This means that some people may have had high overall levels of saturated fatty acids and some could have had low levels. The blood sample was only taken once at the beginning of the study, and this may not have been representative of normal levels, which fluctuate through diet and activity levels. Reliance on dietary questionnaires being completed accurately. This study suggests that not all saturated fat may be bad and that the type of dietary saturated fats influence the risk of diabetes, but it does not conclusively show that dairy products are protective. Whatever the case, the increased risk from a larger waist circumference, as well as being overwe...
Source: NHS News Feed - Category: Consumer Health News Tags: Diabetes Obesity QA articles Source Type: news