Study raises the steaks on diabetes-red meat link

Long-term research looks at saturated fats among factors

The latest nutrition news may put a damper on your desire to grill hot dogs, pork chops and Tbone steaks this summer.

Increasing your intake of red meat over time is associated with a higher risk of developing type 2 diabetes, a large, long-term study reported Monday.

Other research has linked consumption of both unprocessed and processed red meat to diabetes, but the latest study tracked the risk of developing the disease over a long time because people’s eating behaviors often change through the years.

Researchers analyzed data from three Harvard studies that tracked 149,000 health care professionals who completed questionnaires about their diets every four years. The men and women were followed for 12 to 16 years. Consumption of red meat varied, but on average people ate 1½ servings a day.

“This is stronger evidence that red-meat consumption contributes to an increased risk of diabetes,” says senior author Frank Hu, a professor of nutrition and epidemiology at the Harvard School of Public Health.

The authors note that the study, which was published online in JAMA (Journal of the American Medical Association) Internal Medicine, is observational and does not prove cause and effect.

Diabetes afflicts almost 26 million adults and children in the USA. Most have type 2 diabetes. About 79 million Americans have prediabetes. The long-term complications of the disease include heart attacks, stroke, blindness, kidney failure, nerve damage and amputations.

Hu says the high amounts of sodi- um and nitrites in processed meats could be factors contributing to diabetes. The heme iron in red meat also may be one of the contributors, he says. Although iron helps prevent anemia, many Americans have iron overload, which is a risk factor for diabetes, he says. “There are probably other factors in these meats that contribute to diabetes.”

He advises reducing the consumption of such meats and incorporating more nuts, low-fat dairy and whole grains into meals.

Registered dietitian Shalene McNeill, a spokeswoman for the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association, says there’s “a lot of good scientific evidence” that supports the role of lean beef in a healthful, balanced diet.

A 3-ounce serving of lean beef provides 10 essential nutrients, such as protein, zinc, iron and many other vitamins and minerals, for only about 150 calories, she says.

William Evans, head of the Muscle Metabolism Discovery Performance Unit at GlaxoSmithKline and an adjunct professor of geriatric medicine at Duke University, says in the accompanying editorial that “the interaction of the many genetic and lifestyle factors that contribute to the cause of type 2 diabetes is remarkably complex and still not well understood. The major factors associated with risk are levels of physical activity, body fatness, distribution of body fat and diet.”

Evans says he doesn’t think it’s the red meat that’s the problem “but the amount of saturated fat in meat. Saturated fat causes the inflammation in the body which increases the risk of bad things like heart disease and diabetes.

“You can eat lean cuts of beef like sirloin tip steak, top round steak and beef tips that are extremely low in fat and saturated fat, even lower than a number of cuts of chicken. Cheddar cheese has as much saturated fat as a T-bone steak.”

As people grow older, they need to consume more protein, but they also need to reduce their calories, Evans says: “You can get that protein from fish, poultry and lean red meat.”

But, Hu says, “saturated fat is just one of the many components of red meat that contribute to diabetes.”