Eating Meat Linked To Diabetes Risk

CARNIVORES DILEMMA? –

Aug. 21, 2024 – For sausage, salami and steak lovers, the news has not been good. Scientists have been consistently finding links between red and processed meat consumption and heart disease, some types of cancer and earlier death. Now, recent studies have added to the growing body of evidence that a meat-heavy diet may increase the risk of Type 2 diabetes.

In one of the studies, published Tuesday in The Lancet Diabetes and Endocrinology, researchers analyzed data from nearly 2 million adults participating in 31 studies across 20 countries, including the United States and parts of Europe and Asia.

Researchers reviewed survey data on participants’ diets and then looked at their health an average of 10 years later. After adjusting for other risk factors like smoking, a higher body mass index, physical inactivity and a family history of diabetes, they found that for every 1.8 ounces of processed meat the participants ate each day, their risk for Type 2 diabetes increased by 15%. (This is equivalent to a medium-sized sausage or two to three slices of bacon.) For every 3.5 ounces of unprocessed red meat they consumed daily, their risk increased by 10%. (This is about the size of a small steak.)