Can Eating Red Meat Twice a Week Raise Type 2 Diabetes Risk?

According to data from the Lancet, over 500 million people worldwide are living with diabetes. Sadly, this number is expected to increase to 1.3 billion by 2050. 

With diabetes being a serious burden, prevention is important. 

Thankfully, with the right dietary approach, this can be achieved – which is great news, unless you’re a meat lover. It appears that, per a recent study, those who enjoy servings of red meat twice a week may have to grapple with an increased risk for type 2 diabetes. 

Red Meat and Type 2 Diabetes: What’s The Link?

Led by Harvard University researchers, the latest study featured an analysis of the data of 216,695 health professionals. The participants participated in the Nurses’ Health Study, the Nurses’ Health Study II, and the Health Professionals Follow-up Study. 

All three studies recruited participants from around 1976 to 1989 and had them answer detailed questions about their diet and medical histories every two to four years. 

By the end of the follow-up periods, around 22,800 people had developed type 2 diabetes.

Red Meat May Increase Type 2 Diabetes Risk

“When we looked at the women and men who consumed the most red meat compared to the least, we found about a 50% increase in risk [for type 2 diabetes],” – Dr. Walter Willett, study author

Per the findings of the study, published in The American Journal of Nutrition, processed and unprocessed meat consumption caused a 51% and 40% increased risk of type 2 diabetes. 

According to the authors, processed meat includes sausage, beef, or pork hot dogs, bacon, and processed meat sandwiches, and a single serving equals 28 grams of bacon or 45 grams of the other meats. 

Unprocessed meat refers to lean or extra lean hamburger, regular hamburger, beef, pork, or lamb as a sandwich or mixed dish; and pork, beef, or lamb as a main dish, and a single serving consists of eighty-five grams of pork, beef, or lamb.

In regards to the highest meat consumption, two full servings, or about six ounces, of beef, pork, or lamb every day caused a 62% increased risk of type 2 diabetes, compared to those who consumed the least amount of meat per week (which was about two servings a week). 

So, Can Quitting Red Meat Protect Against Diabetes?

Well, not exactly. 

For one, the study did not show a direct cause and effect. 

Also, the majority of the participants were female and Caucasian. This makes it difficult to determine if the same results will be replicated among a different demographic. In fact, due to the low rate of diversity, the researchers only found a weak link between red meat and Type 2 diabetes in Asian and Hispanic people.

Speaking of the participants, those who consumed higher amounts of red meat also had higher body mass indexes (BMI).  A high BMI is a key risk factor for Type 2 diabetes, and while the researchers did take this into account, it is something that one should take note of.  

Despite these drawbacks, there are a few contributing factors that may explain red meat consumption’s influence on diabetes risk, and these include:

1. Saturated Fat: Previous research has indicated that saturated fat may increase insulin resistance, which is a serious risk factor for type 2 diabetes. 
2. Nitrosamines: These are formed once nitrates and nitrites are added to meat as part of the curing process, and studies have noted their impact on insulin resistance. 
3. Heme: A group of molecules that contain iron, studies suggest that the high levels of heme found in red meat may affect insulin production.

Is It Time To Say Goodbye to Red Meat?

It wouldn’t be the worst idea. 

Health spoke to the study lead author Dr. Xiao Gu, a postdoctoral research fellow in the Department of Nutrition at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health. Dr. Gu said that opting for plant-based proteins can reduce the major biological mechanisms that can lead to the development of type 2 diabetes.

In fact, the study found that swapping a meat serving for nuts and legumes caused a 30% reduction in type 2 diabetes, and choosing dairy caused a 22% reduction.

Yet, if cutting out red meat completely seems like too much of a change, Dr. Gu recommends that you scale back and stick to one serving a week, by reducing the frequency or portion size,

“Given the findings, limiting red meat consumption to about one serving per week “would be reasonable for people wishing to optimize their health and wellbeing,” explained senior study author Dr. Walter C. Willet. Dr. Willet is also a professor of epidemiology and nutrition at Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health. 

Changing how you consume meat won’t only help improve your health, but it’ll also improve that of the environment. In fact, choosing a plant-based diet can help mitigate the risk of climate change.

If you’re looking for alternative protein sources, try the following:

• Quinoa 
• Beans
• Legumes
• Tofu
• Tempeh
• Edamame
• Lentils
• Spirulina

References

Fernandez-Cao, J. C., Arija, V., Aranda, N., Bullo, M., Basora, J., Martínez-González, M. A., Díez-Espino, J., & Salas-Salvadó, J. (2013). Heme iron intake and risk of new-onset diabetes in a Mediterranean population at high risk of cardiovascular disease: an observational cohort analysis. BMC public health, 13, 1042. https://doi.org/10.1186/1471-2458-13-1042

GBD 2021 Diabetes Collaborators (2023). Global, regional, and national burden of diabetes from 1990 to 2021, with projections of prevalence to 2050: a systematic analysis for the Global Burden of Disease Study 2021. Lancet (London, England), 402(10397), 203–234. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0140-6736(23)01301-6

von Frankenberg, A. D., Marina, A., Song, X., Callahan, H. S., Kratz, M., & Utzschneider, K. M. (2017). A high-fat, high-saturated fat diet decreases insulin sensitivity without changing intra-abdominal fat in weight-stable overweight and obese adults. European journal of nutrition, 56(1), 431–443. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00394-015-1108-6

Tong, M., Neusner, A., Longato, L., Lawton, M., Wands, J. R., & de la Monte, S. M. (2009). Nitrosamine exposure causes insulin resistance diseases: relevance to type 2 diabetes mellitus, non-alcoholic steatohepatitis, and Alzheimer’s disease. Journal of Alzheimer’s disease : JAD, 17(4), 827–844.

MAIN IMAGE CREDIT: Photo by Gil Goldman/Pexels