Grocery stores often offer many types of milk, including cow’s milk with varying percentages of fat, soy, flax, rice milk, and almond milk.īelow is nutritional information for some common milk options. Share on Pinterest Almond milk is one of the many alternatives to cow’s milk. However, these studies raise the point that not all fats are harmful to health, including those found in milk. They might focus more on controlling carbohydrate intake than fat intake. Selecting a type of milk might involve different considerations for people who already have type 2 diabetes. They also found a link between an increased risk of developing the condition and a diet rich in saturated fats from meat. The researchers examined the effects of different saturated fats and concluded that a diet rich in the types of saturated fat found in dairy had a protective effect against type 2 diabetes. Whether or not the resulting lower diabetes risk was due to the dairy itself or the many other lifestyle factors, including consistent dairy intake into adulthood, necessitates more research.Ī 2014 study, conducted by researchers in Sweden, found that a higher intake of high-fat dairy products, including butter, yogurt, milk, cream, and cheese, was associated with a lower risk of diabetes. The researchers also found that the adolescents with the higher dairy intake and lower prevalence of diabetes later in adulthood also had a lower intake of sugar-sweetened beverages and trans-fats, a lower glycemic load, and consumed less red and processed meats.

The researchers concluded that consuming more dairy products during adolescence were associated with a reduced risk of type 2 diabetes. “A diet high in low-fat dairy products is associated with lower diabetes risk in postmenopausal women, particularly those who are obese.”Īnother study from 2011, published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, tracked the relationship between dairy consumption during adolescence and their risk for type 2 diabetes as an adult. Over the course of 8 years, the researchers measured the participants’ intake of dairy products, including milk and yogurt. Several scientific studies have attempted to find a link between drinking milk and a reduced risk for type 2 diabetes.Ī 2011 study in the Journal of Nutrition examined 82,000 women who had already finished menopause and, at the start of the study, had not received a diagnosis of diabetes. Glucose monitoring might therefore be helpful to determine if and what kind of cow milk is best. Lower-fat foods and beverages like skimmed milk might result in a higher blood sugar level due to faster absorption. However, skim milk can be a lower- fat, lower-calorie option for people who are not lactose intolerant and prefer cow’s milk. The “best” milk for a person with diabetes depends on the flavors they prefer, the rest of their daily diet, and their overall daily carbohydrate intake.įor example, if a person aims to reduce their carbohydrate intake as much as possible, almond and flax milk contains nearly zero carbohydrates.Īll cow’s milk does contain carbohydrates, and it is important for people with diabetes to factor this into their carbohydrate counts. Share on Pinterest The types of milk recommended for diabetes will vary depending on their carbohydrate requirements.

Carbs in almond milk vs skim milk