Dairy products are integral parts of healthy diets; however, their association with cardiometabolic (CM) health among patients with type 2 diabetes (T2D) undergoing weight management is debated. We examined the relationship between dairy consumption and CM biomarkers in 45 subjects with T2D and obesity (mean age 56 ± 9 yrs, 40% female) enrolled in a 12-week intensive multidisciplinary weight management (IMWM) program. After the IMWM program (intervention phase), subjects were followed for 12 weeks (maintenance phase). We stratified subjects based on initial average dairy consumption into infrequent (IFR), less-frequent (LFR), and frequent (FR) consumers. Outcomes were assessed at baseline, 12, and 24 weeks. There were no differences between tertiles at baseline except for higher total energy intake among FR compared with IFR. HbA1c changes showed no association with dairy consumption at 12 or 24 weeks. FR Females achieved greater weight loss at 12 weeks compared with IFR peers (-4.5 kg; 95%CI: -5.5, -3.5). There was a trend towards lower HDL-C with increasing dairy consumption during the intervention phase. In subjects with T2D and overweight or obesity, dairy consumption during weight management is not associated with HbA1c changes but with lower HDL-C and with higher magnitude of weight loss among females.
Keywords: dairy consumption; obesity; type 2 diabetes; weight management.