Can Eating Yogurt Reduce Diabetes Risk?

Having diabetes means you need to be especially watchful about the food you eat to maintain normal and steady blood sugar levels. You want eat a variety of healthy foods from all the food groups - vegetables, fruits, grains, protein, and dairy - in the amount a meal plan you create with the advice of your health care providers.

This goes, too, for prediabetics. In addition to those who have diabetes -- currently estimated at 8.4 million people of all ages or 11.6% of the US population—a significant number of people are prediabetic. This means they have a higher-than-normal blood sugar level. The estimate for prediabetics is 97.6 million or 38% of the US population. [1] Without changes in lifestyle, adults and children with prediabetes have a high risk of developing Type 2 diabetes.       

If you have wondered about whether yogurt should be on your shopping list, the Food and Drug Administration recently announced a “qualified health claim” that the food may reduce the risk of type 2 diabetes. According to the FDA, a health claim characterizes the relationship between a substance and a disease or health-related condition. A qualified health claim is “supported by scientific evidence but does not meet the more rigorous ‘significant scientific agreement’ standard required for an authorized health claim.”[2]

In the case of yogurt, the FDA announced “it does not intend to object to the use of certain qualified health claims regarding the consumption of yogurt and the reduced risk of Type 2 diabetes provided that the qualified health claims are worded so as not to mislead consumers, and that other factors for the use of the claim are met.”[3] This means that yogurt producers can state that regular consumption of their yogurt product may prevent Type 2 diabetes, but labels must also qualify that this is based on “limited scientific evidence.” Furthermore, the relationship of yogurt and diabetes Type 2 is based on yogurt as a food and not a single nutrient or compound in it regardless of fat or sugar content. [4]

Recommended amount of yogurt  

The FDA concluded that the minimum amount of yogurt to support the qualified health claim is regularly eating 2 cups (3 servings) per week. [5]

Yogurt is made by the bacterial fermentation of milk, all types. Yogurt contains a lot of calcium (Just one cup provides 49% of your daily calcium needs.[6]). In addition to calcium, yogurt is high in protein, vitamin B and contains essential minerals: phosphorus, magnesium, and potassium

Previous research

A 2014 study by Frank Hu, Fredrick J. Stare Professor of Nutrition and Epidemiology and chair of the Department of Nutrition at Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, found an association between regular consumption of yogurt and lowered Type 2 diabetes risk. Hu said in a New York Times interview that the live bacteria cultures in yogurt may reduce inflammation and insulin resistance. Still, you need to be mindful of sugars in yogurt, Hu said. Yogurt is unlikely to prevent diabetes on its own. [7]

If you have diabetes or are prediabetic, you always will want work with your medical team to make the best choices for your health.

[1] “National Diabetes Statistics Report,” CDC, Accessed April 16, 2024. https://www.cdc.gov/diabetes/data/statistics-report/index.html

[2] “FDA Announces Qualified Health Claim for Yogurt and Reduced Risk of Type 2 Diabetes,” FDA Constituent Update, March 1, 2024. https://www.fda.gov/food/cfsan-constituent-updates/fda-announces-qualified-health-claim-yogurt-and-reduced-risk-type-2-diabetes

[3] IBID

[4] “Eating Yogurt may help reduce Type 2 diabetes risk, “Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, 2024. https://www.hsph.harvard.edu/news/hsph-in-the-news/yogurt-type-2-diabetes/

[5] FDA Announces Qualified Health Claim for Yogurt and Reduced Risk of Type 2 Diabetes”

[6] Elliott, Briana, “6 Impressive Health Benefits of Yogurt,” healthline, March 10, 2023. https://www.healthline.com/nutrition/benefits-of-yogurt#nutrition

[7] “Eating Yogurt may help reduce Type 2 diabetes risk, “Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, 2024.