Maybe don’t go ham on the ham.
A new study supports the claim that eating processed meats and red meats may increase the risk of Type 2 diabetes.
Professors at the University of Cambridge in England analyzed data from 1.97 million people from 31 studies in 20 countries — including 18 unpublished studies. Researchers factored in the participants’ age, gender, health-related behaviors, energy intake and body mass.
They determined that habitually consuming 50 grams of processed meat a day — the equivalent of two slices of ham — is associated with a 15% higher risk of developing Type 2 diabetes in the next decade.
Eating 100 grams of unprocessed red meat a day (think: a small steak) was associated with a 10% higher risk, while 100 grams of poultry per day was associated with an 8% increased risk.
“Our research provides the most comprehensive evidence to date of an association between eating processed meat and unprocessed red meat and a higher future risk of Type 2 diabetes,” said senior study author Nita Forouhi, of the Medical Research Council Epidemiology Unit at the University of Cambridge.
“It supports recommendations to limit the consumption of processed meat and unprocessed red meat to reduce Type 2 diabetes cases,” she added.
Forouhi said the link between poultry consumption and Type 2 diabetes “remains uncertain and needs to be investigated further.”
Type 2 diabetes occurs when the body fails to produce enough insulin or doesn’t use it well.
More than 38 million Americans — about 1 in 10 — have diabetes, making it the eighth leading cause of death in the nation.
Earlier research found that consuming more than one serving of red meat a day could contribute to a 62% higher risk of Type 2 diabetes.
The US Department of Agriculture suggests limiting daily consumption of meat, poultry and eggs to 4 ounces.
The USDA says processed meats — such as hams, sausages and deli meats — shouldn’t be consumed more than once a week.
The Cambridge researchers offer several possible explanations for the purported link between meat consumption and Type 2 diabetes risk, including meat being a significant source of animal protein and iron.
A recent Harvard University study found that a higher intake of heme iron, the kind found in red meat, increases the risk of Type 2 diabetes.
Heme iron has also been shown to cause inflammation and even DNA damage. Some research suggests it may increase the risk of colorectal, pancreatic and lung cancer.
“Red meat has pros and cons,” Dr. Ruchi Mathur, an endocrinologist at Cedars-Sinai in Los Angeles, told the New York Times last year after a similar Harvard study was released.
She said red meat is rich in protein, vitamins such as B12 and minerals like selenium but also in saturated fat.
“Depending on the processing, [red meat] can be high in sodium and preservatives,” explained Mathur, who was not involved in the research. “None of these are good for our health.”
The Cambridge researchers report that meat consumption can also worsen insulin sensitivity — a hallmark of Type 2 diabetes — and affect the cells in the pancreas that produce insulin.
Like other dietary research, limitations to this study include participants not accurately reporting what they ate and researchers not being able to adjust for other variables.
Nevertheless, the Cambridge researchers said their work “provides more concrete evidence of the link between consumption of different types of meat and Type 2 diabetes than was previously possible.”
