Eating more than one serving of red meat per week may significantly increase your risk of type 2 diabetes.
This is based on a Study published Thursday exist American Journal of Clinical Nutrition. Researchers at Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health analyzed health data collected from nearly 220,000 participants over 36 years. During this time, nearly 10% of participants developed type 2 diabetes.
When the researchers examined the participants’ eating habits, they found that those who ate the most red meat had a 62 percent higher risk of developing type 2 diabetes compared with those who ate the least.
The researchers found that each additional serving of processed red meat, beyond one serving per week, increased the risk of diabetes by 46 percent, while each additional serving of unprocessed red meat increased the risk. twenty four%.
Dr. Walter Willett, professor of epidemiology and nutrition at Harvard University, said: “Given our findings and previous work by others, for people who want to optimize health and well-being, consuming about one serving of red meat per week may be helpful. It’s reasonable.” said in a press release about the study.
Other studies, but not all, have reached similar conclusions. A 2013 study Research from Harvard University and the Cleveland Clinic found that increased red meat intake increases the risk of type 2 diabetes over time, in part because it leads to weight gain.
But the risk may go beyond the meat itself. A 2018 Harvard study found that people who regularly ate red meat, chicken or fish cooked over an open flame or at high temperatures (like on a barbecue) had a 1.5 times greater risk of developing type 2 diabetes.
The authors of the 2018 article suggested that this may be because cooking meat at high temperatures produces chemicals such as heterocyclic aromatic amines, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, and advanced glycation end products, all of which are known carcinogens that increase inflammation or reduced insulin sensitivity.
Protein-Rich Red Meat Alternatives
If you’re wondering what to eat, there are plenty of options.
According to the 2000 calorie diet, everyone should aim for 50 grams of protein per day U.S. Food and Drug Administration. But the agency encourages people to vary their protein sources and choose from the following:
- beans
- pea
- Lentils
- Egg
- Low-fat or fat-free dairy products
- Unsalted nuts and seeds
- Soy products
- Lean meat
- poultry
- seafood
The good news for people: Replacing one serving of red meat each day with nuts or legumes can reduce your risk of type 2 diabetes by 30 percent. The authors of the latest study found that consuming protein from dairy products reduced the risk by 22%.
Good for the planet: Choosing healthy plant-based protein sources over red meat could reduce greenhouse gas emissions and slow climate change, the researchers added.
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