Eating red meat found to be directly linked to diabetes after study followed people for 30 years
Topics: News, Health, Food and Drink
Niamh Shackleton
Featured Image Credit: Kryssia Campos/Kilito Chan/Getty Images
Topics: News, Health, Food and Drink
A new study has found that there could be a link between red meat and Type 2 diabetes.
There are two different types of diabetes: Type 1 is where the pancreas doesn't make insulin as a result of the body's immune system attacks the islet cells in the pancreas that make insulin.
Type 2 is when someone's pancreas starts making less insulin than it used to, and your body becomes resistant to insulin.
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Both types are irreversible illnesses, and Type 2 is typically diagnosed in older, obese people - but, as obesity rates continue to sore, it's also being detected in younger people as well.
A person's lifestyle can contribute towards developing Type 2 diabetes - their diet in particular.
People have long been urged to cut back of eating red meat as it's been linked to some cardiovascular diseases and cancers.
It's also been associated with people developing Type 2 diabetes, and a new Harvard study has doubled down on this theory.
Conducted at the college's T.H. Chan School of Public Health, the study tracked the eating patterns of 216,695 adults over decades and noted if they developed any health issues.
They went on to find that 22,000 participants developed Type 2 diabetes and, after analyzing food frequency questionnaires sent to the participants every two to four years, it was found that, coincidentally, people who developed the illness ate a lot of red meat.
ABC News chief medical correspondent Dr. Jennifer Ashton said of the new study, which as published on Thursday (October 19): "We're talking about lamb, beef, pork, sausage, hot dogs, burgers.
"This was a big study, over 200,000 people followed for 30 years, [that] basically found a direct link and association."
While diabetes is irreversible, there are ways you can can prevent or offset their potential risk of developing it by substituting one daily serving of red meat for another protein source.
Diabetes UK advises people to have less than 70g of red processed meat a day, and suggest leaner alternatives such as chicken breast or tuna as a source of protein.
For example, two sausages and three rashers of bacon is 70g of processed meat, while just one sausage and one rasher of bacon is only 25g.
Elsewhere, Harvard's study found that as little as half a serving a day of legumes or nuts can dramatically lower your risk of developing Type 2 diabetes.