Eating just two servings of red meat a week may increase your risk of developing type 2 diabetes, a study suggests.

US researchers, who examined the eating habits and diabetes rates for 200,000 people, advised limiting red meat to one serving per week to ‘optimise health’.

A typical 70g serving is equivalent to two thick rashers of bacon, one-and-a-half sausages or five slices of ham. 

The findings suggest that eating just two bacon sandwiches, one burger or two-thirds of an 8oz steak raises they type 2 diabetes risk.

Results also revealed that swapping one serving of red meat for another protein source — such as nuts, chickpeas or kidney beans — slashes the risk of developing type 2 diabetes by 30 per cent.

The findings suggest that eating just two bacon sandwiches, one burger or two-thirds of an 8oz steak raises they type 2 diabetes risk

The findings suggest that eating just two bacon sandwiches, one burger or two-thirds of an 8oz steak raises they type 2 diabetes risk

Previous studies have indicated a link between red meat consumption and type 2 diabetes risk, and researchers say this study adds a greater level of certainty about the association.

It analysed a large number of type 2 diabetes cases among people being followed for an extended period of years.

First author Xiao Gu, postdoctoral research fellow in the department of nutrition at Harvard T H Chan School of Public Health, in the USA, said: ‘Our findings strongly support dietary guidelines that recommend limiting the consumption of red meat, and this applies to both processed and unprocessed red meat.’

In the study, published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, researchers looked at health data from 216,695 people from the Nurses’ Health Study (NHS), NHS II, and Health Professionals Follow-up Study (HPFS) in the USA.

People were asked to complete questionnaires about their diet every two to four years, for up to 36 years.

What does a 70g serving of red meat look like?

Two thick rashers of bacon

One-and-a-half sausages

Five slices of ham

Half a burger 

One third of a typical steak

Five tablespoons of cooked mince

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During this time, more than 22,000 of them developed type 2 diabetes.

According to the findings, eating red meat, including processed and unprocessed red meat, was strongly associated with increased risk of type 2 diabetes.

Those who ate the most red meat had a 62 per cent higher risk of developing the condition compared to those who ate the least.

The research suggests that every additional daily serving of processed red meat was associated with a 46 per cent greater chance of developing type 2 diabetes.

Every additional daily serving of unprocessed red meat was associated with a 24 per cent greater risk, the study found.

Estimating the potential effects of replacing one daily serving of red meat for another protein source, researchers found that substituting a serving of nuts and legumes was associated with a 30 per cent lower risk of type 2 diabetes. Substituting a serving of dairy products was linked to a 22 per cent lower risk.

Senior author Walter Willett, professor of epidemiology and nutrition, said: ‘Given our findings and previous work by others, a limit of about one serving per week of red meat would be reasonable for people wishing to optimise their health and wellbeing.’

According to the scientists, swapping red meat for healthy plant protein sources would help reduce greenhouse gas emissions and tackle climate change, and provide other environmental benefits.

Source: | This article originally belongs to Dailymail.co.uk

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