Red meat consumption may increase risk of type 2 diabetes

January 01, 0001

Red meat consumption may increase risk of type 2 diabetes

The relation between consumption of different types of red meats and risk of type 2 diabetes (T2D) remains uncertain. The researchers from the US and Germany evaluated the association between unprocessed and processed red meat consumption and incident T2D in US adults. They followed 37,083 men in the Health Professionals Follow-Up Study (1986-2006), 79,570 women in the Nurses’ Health Study I (1980-2008), and 87,504 women in the Nurses’ Health Study II (1991-2005). Diet was assessed by validated food-frequency questionnaires, and data were updated every 4 years. Incident T2D was confirmed by a validated supplementary questionnaire.

During 4,033,322 person-years of follow-up, they documented 13,759 incident T2D cases. After adjustment for age, BMI, and other lifestyle and dietary risk factors, both unprocessed and processed red meat intakes were positively associated with T2D risk in each cohort. The pooled HRs for a one serving/d increase of unprocessed, processed, and total red meat consumption were 1.12, 1.32 and 1.14, respectively. The results were confirmed by a meta-analysis (442,101 participants and 28,228 diabetes cases): the RRs were 1.19 and 1.51 for 100 g of unprocessed red meat and for 50 g of unprocessed red meat, respectively. They estimated that substitutions of one serving of nuts, low-fat dairy, and whole grains per day for one serving of red meat per day were associated with a 16-35% lower risk of T2D.

The researchers concluded: "Our results suggest that red meat consumption, particularly processed red meat, is associated with an increased risk of T2D."

Note the validation by questionnaire. The estimate in the conclusion is extrapolation.

For the full abstract, click here.

Am J Clin Nutr October 2011 © 2011 American Society for Nutrition
Red meat consumption and risk of type 2 diabetes: 3 cohorts of US adults and an updated meta-analysis. An Pan, Qi Sun, Adam M Bernstein, Matthias B Schulze et al. Correspondence to Frank Hu:

Category: T. Keywords: red meat, consumption, risk, type 2 diabetes, cohort studies, meta-analysis, journal watch.
Synopsis edited by Dr Stephen Wilkinson, Melbourne, Australia. Posted on Global Family Doctor 9 September 2011

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