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Association between yogurt consumption, dietary patterns, and cardio-metabolic risk factors

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Abstract

Purpose

To examine whether yogurt consumption is associated with a healthier dietary pattern and with a better cardio-metabolic risk profile among healthy individuals classified on the basis of their body mass index (BMI).

Methods

A 91-item food frequency questionnaire, including data on yogurt consumption, was administered to 664 subjects from the INFOGENE study. After principal component analysis, two factors were retained, thus classified as the Prudent and Western dietary patterns.

Results

Yogurt was a significant contributor to the Prudent dietary pattern. Moreover, yogurt consumption was associated with lower body weight, waist-to-hip ratio, and waist circumference and tended to be associated with a lower BMI. Consumers had lower levels of fasting total cholesterol and insulin. Consumers of yogurt had a positive Prudent dietary pattern mean score, while the opposite trend was observed in non-consumers of yogurt. Overweight/obese individuals who were consumers of yogurts exhibited a more favorable cardio-metabolic profile characterized by lower plasma triglyceride and insulin levels than non-consumers within the same range of BMI. There was no difference in total yogurt consumption between normal-weight individuals and overweight/obese individuals. However, normal-weight subjects had more daily servings of high-fat yogurt and less daily servings of fat-free yogurt compared to overweight/obese individuals.

Conclusions

Being a significant contributor to the Prudent dietary pattern, yogurt consumption may be associated with healthy eating. Also, yogurt consumption may be associated with lower anthropometric indicators and a more beneficial cardio-metabolic risk profile in overweight/obese individuals.

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Abbreviations

BMI:

Body mass index

CVD:

Cardiovascular diseases

FFQ:

Food frequency questionnaire

LABSAP:

Laboratory of physical activity of Laval University

HDL-C:

High-density lipoprotein cholesterol

LDL-C:

Low-density lipoprotein cholesterol

ApoB100:

Apolipoprotein B-100

HOMA-IR:

Homeostasis model assessment of insulin resistance

CRP:

Plasma C-reactive protein

GLM:

General linear model

DGAI:

Dietary Guidelines Adherence Index

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Acknowledgments

We express our gratitude to the participants involved in the study for their time and involvement. We thank Ann-Marie Paradis, Marie-Ève Bouchard, Steve Amireault, Diane Drolet, and Dominique Beaulieu for their collaboration in the recruitment of the participants, the study coordination, and data collection. This work received funding by Danone Nutricia Research and Danone Canada. Hubert Cormier is the recipient of the Frederick Banting and Charles Best Canada Graduate Scholarships Doctoral Awards from the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR). Angelo Tremblay holds a Canada Research Chair in Environment and Energy Balance. Marie-Claude Vohl holds a Canada Research Chair in Genomics Applied to Nutrition and Health.

Conflict of interest

All authors are independent from funders. Vicky Drapeau has received a grant from The Danone Institute in 2010–2012. On behalf of all authors, the corresponding author states that there is no conflict of interest.

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Correspondence to Marie-Claude Vohl.

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Cormier, H., Thifault, É., Garneau, V. et al. Association between yogurt consumption, dietary patterns, and cardio-metabolic risk factors. Eur J Nutr 55, 577–587 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00394-015-0878-1

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