Study Links Regular Red Meat Consumption to Type 2 Diabetes

A study involving nearly two million people from 20 countries has confirmed a link between habitual consumption of red meat, processed and unprocessed, and an increased risk of developing type 2 diabetes.

The study, published Tuesday in The Lancet Diabetes & Endocrinology and led by Britain’s University of Cambridge, used health data collected by the international InterConnect research project, which aims to improve knowledge about diabetes and obesity.

The project contains detailed data on age, gender, health behavior, energy intake and body mass index from 31 tracking groups in 20 countries.

The researchers concluded that habitual consumption of 50 grams of processed red meat per day (equivalent to two slices) was associated with a 15 percent increased chance of developing type 2 diabetes within ten years of starting this frequent consumption, compared with a person who did not have the habit.

A similar increased risk comes from eating 100 grams of unprocessed red meat a day (the size of a small steak).

While regular poultry consumption is also associated with a higher risk of developing type 2 diabetes over ten years, the percentage is lower: the risk increases by 8% compared to another person who does not eat this type of meat.

“Our study provides the most comprehensive evidence to date of the association between processed meat and unprocessed red meat consumption and increased future risk of developing type 2 diabetes,” said one of the authors, Nita Forooey, a research epidemiologist at the University of Cambridge, quoted in a press release.

Forui believes that while this link needs to be further studied, it is advisable to limit consumption of red meat, which is on the rise worldwide, to reduce the incidence of type 2 diabetes in the population.

Until now, studies of this type have been conducted in Europe, the United States or Japan, but this is the first study to include populations from the Middle East, Latin America and South Asia. The study does not include Africa, where data are still scarce.