Type 2 Diabetes – Should a Diabetic Eat Milk, Cheese, Butter or Yogurt?

I personally do not advise my clients to consume any dairy products on a regular basis for the fact that cow’s milk is intended only for calf. I feel this is a logically conclusion because a cow only produces milk when it is pregnant – much like humans. So I do not feel it is at all natural to continue drinking milk passed the age of two years, especially that of another species which is far different nutritionally than breast milk produced by the human species.

But if you insist on consuming dairy products as a diabetic, then there are several things to be aware of when making your choice.

Not All Dairy Products Are Created Equally. Dairy products like milk and yoghurt contain carbohydrates as well as protein, and sometimes a little fat. It is the carbohydrate that effects everyone’s blood sugar when compared to fat and protein, but especially for diabetics.

But natural carbohydrates are not the only thing to be aware of. Some dairy products contain sugar to make a dairy product taste better. Typically, products like…

• flavored yogurt,
• flavored milk, and
• skimmed milk

all contain added sugar, or sometimes high fructose corn syrup, which can have the same damaging effects on blood sugar as regular table sugar.

Usually plain yogurt, full fat milk, cheese and 100% butter or ghee do not contain added sugar. But to be sure you must always read the ingredients label…

• typically milk contains more carbohydrates than yogurt.
• yogurt has more carbohydrates that cheese.
• cheese then contains more carbohydrates than ghee.

Milk Contains Lactose – A Natural Sugar. Lactose is a natural sugar/carbohydrate found in milk. This “lactose” is what gives milk its sometimes natural sweet taste. Some people lack the enzyme lactase to break down this natural sugar – which can cause more problems than it just not being made for human consumption. This lack of the enzyme lactase can cause an intolerance and the symptoms that go along with it, such as…

• headache,
• excess mucus,
• digestive trouble, and
• even skin rashes or eczema.

Lactose Can Cause Huge Blood Sugar Spikes. According to Mark Hyman MD, author of “The Blood Sugar Solution,” it appears lactose can spike insulin levels by a whopping 300 percent. Making milk, as he states “act more like a soft drink than an egg.” This is because dairy products are a known insulinogenic, which basically means they create a large rise in blood sugar, so much so it stimulates the pancreas to try to produce lots of insulin to “mop up” this excess blood sugar. This is a problem for a Type 2 diabetic from the outset as it puts extra stress on the body when it is already struggling to produce insulin, or the insulin it produces is not being used properly in the first place.

Skimmed milk and whole milk cause the largest insulin release out of all dairy-derived products. Research suggests this excessive insulin release comes about from not just the naturally found carbohydrates, but these carbohydrates being combined with protein.

Wherever this spike in blood sugar comes from, this large release of insulin for a diabetic can be very dangerous. This is because if a diabetic gets too little insulin, they can slip into a coma, which can also happen if they overdose (or produce) too much insulin.

So it is not a good idea to over consume dairy products, especially skimmed and whole milk containing products if you are a diabetic as you could be causing your body to produce more insulin than it knows what to do with which could be very dangerous indeed.