The study found that when men with type 2 diabetes drank a beverage with carbohydrates and a mixture of particular proteins, their blood sugar response was lower than it was after a carb-only drink.

The protein mix -- casein hydrolysate, which is derived from milk, and two amino acids, leucine and phenylalanine -- had previously been shown to stimulate the body's production of the hormone insulin, which regulates blood sugar. Type 2 diabetes arises when the body can no longer use insulin properly.

The study included 10 men with long-standing type 2 diabetes and nine healthy men who each drank a carb-only beverage and one containing carbohydrates and the protein mixture. The researchers measured the men's insulin and blood sugar responses to each beverage.

Among the diabetic men, the insulin response was three to four times greater after the protein-spiked beverage than after the carb-only drink. Their subsequent blood sugar levels were 28 percent lower, on average, according to the findings published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition.

Dr. Luc J.C. van Loon, a researcher at Maastricht University and the study's senior author, described the improvement in insulin response as "enormous."