Studies indicate that, the chances of an individual developing type 2 diabetes can increase, even if they consume red meat just twice a week instead of another option.
Experts at Harvard University says that, substituting red meat with plant-based protein sources, such as legumes and nuts, may lessen the chances of developing the condition and would also help to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and handle climate change.
According to the World Health Organization, Type 2 diabetes is one of the world’s fastest growing major health threats. Its prevalence has increased all over during the last three decades.
More than 400 million individuals have been detected, but millions more are estimated to be in the dark about the fact they have the condition. It is a major cause of blindness, heart attacks, stroke, kidney failure and lower limb amputation.
Research continuously suggests that one of the main things you can do to reduce the risk of type 2 diabetes, is by maintaining a healthy weight and improving your diet.
Previous studies have specified that, the relationship between red meat consumption and type 2 diabetes risk, but researchers say new research by Harvard adds a greater level of certainty about the association.
According to a study which was published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, researchers watched at health data from 216,695 individuals from the Nurses’ Health Study, Nurses’ Health Study II, and Health Professionals Follow-up Study (HPFS)
Individuals were asked to complete questionnaires about their diet every two to four years, for up to 36 years. During this period, more than 22,000 of them have developed type 2 diabetes.
Those who consumed the reddest meat had a 62% higher risk of developing the condition compared with those who consumed the least.
The research suggests that every additional daily serving of processed red meat was connected with a 46% greater chance of developing type 2 diabetes. Every additional daily serving of unprocessed red meat was connected with a 24% greater risk.
Professor of epidemiology and nutrition Walter Willett said, “Given our findings and previous work by others, a limit of about one serving a week of red meat would be reasonable for individuals who wish to improve their health and wellbeing.”
The scientists mentioned that swapping red meat for healthy plant protein sources would also help to lessen greenhouse gas emissions, handle climate change and provide other environmental benefits.
