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While red meat consumption has consistently been related to such a risk, the studies determining this were all conducted with baseline information and limited follow-up. Now that follow-up has been done. The study: Led by Dr. An Pan of the National University of Singapore, the team analyzed data from three Harvard group studies and followed up with 26,357 men in the Health Professionals Follow-Up Study; 48,709 women in the Nurses' Health Study; and 74,077 women in the Nurses' Health Study II. Diets were assessed using food frequency questionnaires. During more than 1.9 million person-years of follow-up, the researchers documented 7,540 incident cases of type 2 diabetes. And the results were clear: Increasing red meat intake over the four-year follow-up period was associated with an elevated risk of developing type 2 diabetes, while those who cut down on the red meat they ate had a 14 percent lower risk of the disease. The takeaway: You don't have to give up red meat entirely, but do eat less, replacing it with other healthy food choices, including beans, legumes, soy products, nuts, fish, poultry and whole grains. According to the American Diabetes Association, millions of Americans have been diagnosed with type 2 diabetes, and many more are unaware they are at high risk. In type 2 diabetes, either the body does not produce enough insulin or the cells ignore the insulin. Insulin is necessary for the body to be able to use glucose for energy. When you eat food, the body breaks down all of the sugars and starches into glucose, which is the basic fuel for the cells in the body. Insulin takes the sugar from the blood into the cells. When glucose builds up in the blood instead of going into cells, it can lead to diabetes complications. In type 1 diabetes, previously known as juvenile diabetes because it is usually diagnosed in children and young adults, the body does not produce insulin. Those with type 1 diabetes are insulin-dependent in order to live. But do note this: The authors caution that the study is observational so causality cannot be inferred. That is, it cannot be confirmed that red meat causes type 2 diabetes, only that there is an association. The study findings were published online in the journal JAMA Internal Medicine. --From the Editors at Netscape |
People who eat increasingly more red meat over time are 48 percent more likely to develop type 2 diabetes, according to a follow-up of three Harvard studies of about 149,000 U.S. men and women.
