Meaty Matters: How eating red meat drives up the risk of type 2 diabetes

As a wonderful source of protein and nourishment, red meat is a mainstay of many people’s diets.

However, it is also often linked with type 2 diabetes.

In a recent study, Harvard researchers found that consuming just two servings of red meat each week raises the risk of type 2 diabetes in later life.

Red meat and diabetes

Researchers from the Harvard TH Chan School of Public Health were in charge of the study, which was published on Thursday in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition. They examined health information from 216,695 participants in the Nurses’ Health Study (NHS), NHS II, and the Health Professionals Follow-up Study (HPFS).

Over 22,000 people got type 2 diabetes all through the 36-year period during which diet was evaluated with food frequency questionnaires every two to four years.

Thus, it was discovered that eating red meat — both processed and unprocessed red meat — was significantly linked to an elevated risk of type 2 diabetes.

It was found that participants who consumed more red meat had a 62 per cent higher risk of developing type 2 diabetes than those who consumed less.

Every additional daily serving of processed red meat was linked to a 46 per cent higher risk of type 2 diabetes, compared to every additional daily serving of unprocessed red meat, which was linked to a 24 per cent higher risk.

Following consumption of red meat, the amino acid glycine — which is found naturally in most proteins and is linked to an increased risk of developing diabetes — has also been found to be used more frequently.

The researchers speculated that a variety of biological mechanisms may have influenced the link between red meat and type 2 diabetes. One example is that saturated fat, which is abundant in red meat, has been proven to decrease insulin sensitivity and the activity of the pancreatic beta cells, which produce insulin in a controlled manner to control blood glucose, according to CNN.

According to the study’s first author, Xiao Gu, a postdoctoral research researcher at the Department of Nutrition, “Our findings strongly support dietary guidelines that recommend limiting the consumption of red meat and this applies to both processed and unprocessed red meat.”

Frank Sacks and Frank Hu were two more Harvard Chan School authors.

The reason

According to the authors, processed meats included sausage, beef or pork hot dogs, bacon and processed meat sandwiches; one serving was equal to 45 grammes of the other meats or 28 grammes of bacon.

Unprocessed meat options included lean or extra lean hamburger, ordinary hamburger, beef, pork, or lamb in sandwiches or other dishes, as well as pig, beef, or lamb as a main course.

One serving of unprocessed meat was 85 grammes of beef, lamb, or pork.

“Of note, individuals who reported consuming red meat most frequently within each cohort were more likely to eat less fish (or) fruit and (more) calories, weigh more, and engage in less physical activity,” added Lichtenstein, who is also the director of Tuft University’s Cardiovascular Nutrition Laboratory.

“This suggests they had poorer overall diet quality and were less likely to engage (in) healthy lifestyle behaviours.”

Alternative options

In addition to lowering the risk of type 2 diabetes and contributing to other environmental benefits such as reducing greenhouse gas emissions and climate change, the researchers found that substituting lean protein sources from plants, such as nuts and legumes, or small amounts of dairy foods, for red meat, could lower the risk of the disease.

When estimating the potential effects of replacing one serving of red meat with another plant-based protein source each day, it was discovered that replacing one serving of nuts and legumes with dairy products could cut the risk of type 2 diabetes by 30 per cent and one serving of red meat with dairy products could cut the risk of type 2 diabetes by 22 per cent.

Senior author Walter Willet, professor of Epidemiology and Nutrition, suggested, “Given our findings and previous work by others, a limit of about one serving per week of red meat would be reasonable for people wishing to optimise their health and wellbeing.”

Diabetes – a major health concern

Type 2 diabetes is one of the major health risks that is spreading the quickest in the world. According to the World Health Organization, it has become much more common everywhere in the previous three decades.

More than 400 million people have received a diagnosis, yet millions more are believed to be unaware of their disease. It is a significant factor in kidney failure, heart attacks, strokes, lower limb amputating, blindness, and heart attacks.

An earlier 2018 study that was published in the Journal of Hepatology claimed that non-alcoholic fatty liver disease and insulin resistance were both associated with increased consumption of red and processed meat.

A study conducted by researchers at the Harvard School of Public Health in August 2011 that was the largest of its kind and was published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition revealed that daily consumption of two slices of bacon, a hot dog, or a serving of deli meat can also significantly increase the risk of developing type 2 diabetes.

With inputs from agencies