Eating red meat increases the risk of developing type 2 diabetes.
This is confirmed by researchers from Harvard in a new study.
“I hope our study can resolve the debate about whether or not we should limit red meat intake for health reasons,” writes Xiao Gu, one of the researchers, in an email to CNN.
A new large study conducted by researchers at Harvard shows that red meat increases the risk of developing type 2 diabetes later in life. The study was published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition on Thursday, and has been picked up by, among other things, American CNN.
“The association between red meat and type 2 diabetes has been observed in various populations worldwide. We continue to strengthen existing evidence with improved data and techniques. I hope our study can resolve the debate about whether or not we should limit red meat intake for health reasons,” Xiao Gu writes in an email to the channel.
Xiao Gu is a researcher and mainly studies nutrition. He has been involved in research on the subject and is one of the main authors of the new study. In the study, the researchers state that around 462 million of the world’s inhabitants have been affected by type 2 diabetes.
The number of people affected by the disease is increasing, according to the study.
The recommendation: Two portions a week
“Prevention of diabetes is important because this disease itself is a serious burden, and carries a high risk of cardiovascular disease, kidney disease, cancer and dementia,” writes Xiao Gu.
The study shows that two portions of red meat a week is enough for the risk of diabetes to increase. The risk increases further with greater consumption.
The researchers have studied over 216,000 people. Almost 22,800 people developed type 2 diabetes, and for the people who ate the most red, the risk of developing the disease was 62 percent higher than the people who ate the least.
Biological factors
The channel has also spoken to Alice Lichtenstein, who also researches the subject of nutrition. She was not involved in the study herself, but emphasizes that many of the individuals in the study who ate a lot of red meat also ate worse and were less likely to live a healthy life, which may have played into the study’s results.
The authors of the new study also emphasize that several biological factors may have influenced the relationship between red meat and type 2 diabetes.