Red Meat Linked with Risk of Diabetes Mellitus

A study, based on 149,000 U.S. men and women, has found that eating a diet high in red meat increases risks of developing type-2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM).

The study was conducted by An Pan, Ph.D., National University of Singapore, and colleagues and was based on over 1.9 million person-years of follow-up, during which researchers found more than 7,500 cases of diabetes type-2. Researchers found that people often change their diets, increasing or decreasing meat intake. The data for the study came from many study cohorts.

 "Increasing red meat intake during a four-year interval was associated with an elevated risk of T2DM during the subsequent four years in each cohort," according to the study.

Researchers found that people who increased daily intake of meat by 0.50 servings had a 48 percent higher risk of acquiring diabetes over a four year period. Similarly, reducing meat intake by 0.50 servings was associated with a 14 percent lower risk of developing the condition over a four year period.

Recently, a study had found a compound present in red meat that promotes heart diseases. Another study from BMC Medicine, conducted on over half a million men and women had found that eating processed meat was linked with higher chances of early death. 

Previous research has supported the idea that a diet rich in meat, especially processed meat can up the risk of several health complications. One study from Circulation had found that processed meat is associated with higher risk of heart disease and diabetes type-2.

Red and processed meats have been with a higher risk of cancers, including pancreatic cancer and colorectal cancer.

In the latest study, researchers say that they've found a co-relation between eating meat and the development of the type-2 diabetes and haven't found a cause-and-effect relation.

"Our results confirm the robustness of the association between red meat and T2DM and add further evidence that limiting red meat consumption over time confers benefits for T2DM prevention," the authors concluded.

The study is published in the JAMA Internal Medicine.

William J. Evans, Ph.D., of GlaxoSmithKline and Duke University, Durham, N.C., wrote in an accompanying commentary that people need to understand that eating protein or meat doesn't cause health complications, rather it is the kind of fat (total and saturated) that causes health complications. The body requires protein which can be found cuts of meat that are low in fat.