A glass of milk a day ‘keeps diabetes at bay’ – and could help you lose weight
IF you enjoy a breakfast of milky cereal and tea, then today is your lucky day.
Because scientists now believe that starting the day with a high-protein milk meal could help keep type 2 diabetes at bay, and even help you to lose weight.
A team from the Human Nutraceutical Research Unity at the University of Guelph (in collaboration with the University of Toronto), have been looking at what effect having milk at breakfast has on blood glucose levels and hunger.
They've found that having milk with breakfast cereal reduces blood glucose levels more than having water.
And having high-protein milk is even better than the regular stuff.
Milk containing more protein also reduces appetite later in the day, compared with lower-protein dairy.
The team examined the effects of increasing protein concentration (particularly whey), with a high-carb breakfast cereal, on feelings of fullness, blood glucose and food consumed later in the day.
They found that whey and casein (the two proteins naturally found in milk) slow down digestion and increase feelings of fullness.
Whey makes that effect happen more quickly, while casein protein makes it last longer.
While there was only a small difference in how much people ate later in the day, the scientists did find that high-protein milk helped to reduce blood glucose even after lunch.
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Dr Douglas Goff, who led the study, said that his team's conclusions could go some way into developing dietary strategies for managing obesity and diabetes.
"This study confirms the importance of milk at breakfast time to aid in the slower digestion of carbohydrate and to help maintain lower blood sugar levels," he said.
"Nutritionists have always stressed the importance of a healthy breakfast, and this study should encourage consumers to include milk."
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