Red meat link to diabetes
Friday August 12th, 2011
Eating processed red meat could increase the risk of developing type 2 diabetes, US researchers have claimed.
A
new study by Harvard School of Public Health, USA, found a strong association
between the consumption of red meat—particularly processed meat
– and the condition.
But replacing red meat with healthier proteins, such as low-fat dairy, nuts, or whole grains, can significantly lower the risk.
The largest study of its kind, led by An Pan, research fellow in the HSPH Department of Nutrition, found that a daily 100g serving of unprocessed red meat was linked to 19 per cent increase risk of type 2 diabetes.
A daily serving of 50g processed meat, which equates roughly to two slices of bacon or a hotdog, was associated with a 51 per cent increased risk.
"Clearly, the results from this study have huge public health implications given the rising type 2 diabetes epidemic and increasing consumption of red meats worldwide," said Hu.
"The good news is that such troubling risk factors can be offset by swapping red meat for a healthier protein."
The research team found that, for an individual who eats one daily serving of red meat, substituting one serving of nuts per day was associated with a 21 per cent lower risk of type 2 diabetes; replacing it with low-fat dairy represents a 17 per cent lower risk; while swapping it for whole grains presented a 23 per cent lower risk.
The findings come after the researchers analysed questionnaire responses from 37,083 men who were followed for 20 years in the Health Professionals Follow-Up Study; 79,570 women followed for 28 years in the Nurses' Health Study I; and 87,504 women followed for 14 years in the Nurses' Health Study II.
They also conducted an updated meta-analysis, combining data from their new study with data from existing studies that included a total of 442,101 participants, 28,228 of whom developed type 2 diabetes during the study.
This new study is the largest of its kind in terms of sample size and follow-up years and is among the first to estimate the risk reduction associated with substituting healthier protein choices for red meat.
Red Meat Consumption and Risk of Type 2 Diabetes: 3 Cohorts of U.S. Adults and an Updated Meta-Analysis," An Pan, Qi Sun, Adam M. Bernstein, Matthias B. Schulze, JoAnn E. Manson, Walter C. Willett, and Frank B. Hu, is published online at the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition.
Tags: Diabetes | Diet & Food | North America
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