I recently reported on new scientific evidence about the importance of eating full-fat dairy to support your breast, heart, and prostate health. And now, a new study has found that eating full-fat dairy can also help protect you against Type II diabetes.
Of course, these findings run directly counter to the popular, decades-old, mainstream myth that natural fats in dairy and meat increase your risk of developing cancer and cardiovascular disease.
Clearly, this disastrous advice has fueled the soaring chronic disease epidemics we are now facing in this country.
Science shows major benefits from eating deliciously rich full-fat dairy
For the new study, researchers analyzed data on 63,682 people from 16 pooled international study cohorts. The data included blood measurements of heptadecanoic, pentadecanoic, and trans-palmitoleic acid — three fatty acids that directly reflect consumption of full-fat dairy products.
Then, researchers followed the participants for up to 20 years…
Over that period, 24 percent of participants developed Type II diabetes.
And the men and women with the highest levels of all three fatty acids at the study’s outset had a 35 percent lower risk of developing Type II diabetes compared to those with the lowest levels.
Of course, other studies have linked eating full-fat cheese or yogurt to a lower risk of developing Type II diabetes. But those studies were based on dietary surveys, not on actual measurement of blood markers of dairy intake like this one. So — this study’s findings are much stronger.
The lead author of the study, Dariush Mozaffarian, M.D., of Tufts University in Boston, stated, “While dairy foods are recommended as part of a healthy diet, U.S. and international guidelines generally recommend low-fat or non-fat dairy due to concerns about adverse effects of higher calories or saturated fat…measuring biomarkers of fatty acids consumed in dairy fat suggest a need to re-examine the potential metabolic benefits of dairy fat, or foods rich in dairy fat, such as cheese.”
Gee, you think?
As an anthropologist, I always take the long view on human dietary patterns. So to me, there’s not much to “re-examine.” Observational evidence about the benefits of eating dairy has been hiding in plain sight for a very long time.
In addition to eating full-fat dairy, I also recommend following the Mediterranean Diet, probably the single most healthy diet on the planet when it comes to preventing chronic diseases.
Typically, this diet consists of plenty of fresh fruits and vegetables, olive oil, fish, meats, nuts, red wine, and heathy fats (including full-fat dairy). Of course, lamb is the most-prominently featured meat in the traditional Mediterranean Diet. (Which makes a lot of sense — since lamb has the healthiest fatty acid profile of all meats, followed by beef.)
But there’s a central part of the diet that’s often ignored…
Almost every meal features this savory, healthful ingredient
While nutritionists always seem to talk about the abundant use of olive oil (a plant oil and source of healthy fats) in the Mediterranean Diet, they just don’t seem to talk all that much about cheese. Probably because it doesn’t fit into the misguided mainstream narrative.
But it’s a huge part of this diet.
The diet was first based on the food patterns common notably among people in Crete, as well as other regions in Greece and southern Italy in the 1960s. Meals are traditionally started with a small plate of cheese, meat, olives, and roasted vegetables. Then, grated cheeses are added to salads and steamed or roasted vegetables. Of course, they’re loaded onto pasta, for some added protein. And, finally, after the main courses, they often serve a cheese platter — instead of a sweet dessert.
I grew up eating this way. And it’s like second nature to always include plenty of cheese with meals. But it seems even I’ve failed to mention it enough.
The need for cheese — and mainstream’s reluctance
In a report on the new study, published in Medscape, they interviewed Robert Eckel, M.D. — an “expert” on metabolism, diabetes, and cardiology. He was asked whether people should eat more full-fat instead of low-fat, or non-fat, dairy.
Dr. Eckel’s answer sounded like an edict delivered from on high: “No changes in heart/diabetes/cancer healthy lifestyle are recommended.” He also said more research is needed, as always.
In other words, scientific research data be damned.
Instead, let’s just keep spending taxpayer money doing more and more studies, which we’ll still ignore because they don’t fit the mainstream, crony corporatism narrative.
Of course, if cardiologists and other doctors actually knew anything about human diet and nutrition, they’d know that the new findings make perfect sense, biologically, without the need for “more research.”
Eckel did say something else, with which I agree, “It’s not ‘good foods’ or ‘bad foods.’ It’s the overall diet. The Mediterranean and DASH diets are well studied and recommended.”
What he doesn’t mention is that cheese and yogurt are important parts of the Mediterranean Diet!
So — when following a healthy diet, remember, “don’t hold the cheese.” And go ahead and make that switch to full-fat dairy.
To learn more dietary interventions and lifestyle recommendations for preventing, treating, and reversing Type II diabetes, I encourage you to check out my Integrative Protocol for Defeating Diabetes. This online learning protocol will walk you through a wealth of research and give you the best lifestyle, supplement, and diet recommendations to kick-start your metabolism and say goodbye to diabetes. Click here to learn more, or sign up today.
P.S. Tune back into my Daily Dispatch tomorrow for a discussion about the color of cheese…
Source:
“Fatty acid biomarkers of dairy fat consumption and incidence of type 2 diabetes: A pooled analysis of prospective cohort studies,” PLOS Medicine, (www.journals.plos.org) 10/10/2018