Eating meat increases diabetes risk: Study 

Eating too much red meat and poultry may increase risk of developing diabetes, a large Asian study suggests.

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According to a study:

• The study, partially attributes the risk to the higher content of heme iron in these meats.
• The results suggest that eating fish/shellfish is not associated with risk of diabetes.
• It recruited 63,257 adults aged 45-74 years between 1993 and 1998.
• And then followed them up for an average of about 11 years.

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• In their analysis, researchers found a positive association between intakes of red meat and poultry, and risk of developing diabetes.
• Specifically, compared to those in the lowest quartile intake.
• Those in the highest quartile intake of red meat and poultry had a 23 per cent and 15 per cent increase in risk of diabetes, respectively.
• The increase in risk associated with red meat/poultry was reduced by substituting them with fish/shellfish, the study showed.
• In trying to understand the underlying mechanism for the role of red meat and poultry in the development of diabetes.
• The study also investigated the association between dietary heme-iron content from all meats and the risk of diabetes.
• And found a dose-dependent positive association.

Study suggests:

• After adjusting for heme-iron content in the diet, the red-meat and diabetes association was still present.
• Suggesting that other chemicals present in red meat could be accountable for the increase in risk of diabetes.
• Conversely, the association between poultry intake and diabetes risk became null.
• In addition,suggesting that this risk was attributable to the heme-iron content in poultry.
• The study suggests that chicken parts with lower heme-iron contents such as breast meat, compared to thighs, could be healthier.