Cut Down Meat Intake and Avoid Diabetes

Summarized by Robert W. Griffith, MD
November 26, 2004

Introduction

Here's more evidence that meat may be bad for you. Although overweight and obesity are the most important risk factors for diabetes, there may be other aspects associated with eating that are relevant. A study has been reported in the Archives of Internal Medicine that investigates the effect of diet on the likelihood of developing type 2 diabetes. This is a summary of the publication.

What was done

The investigators used information from the Nurses Health Study (NHS). This began in 1976, enrolling over 120,000 female nurses living in the USA. Dietary information was collected from almost 70,000 of these women in 1984, 1986, 1990, and 1994; this group of women had no history of diabetes, cardiovascular disease, or cancer at the first time point, 1984.

The food-frequency questionnaire used contained 116 items. A standard portion size was given for each item. Participants had to choose from 9 possible choices as to how often they ate an item, ranging from "never" to "more than 6 times a day".

Analysis showed there were two main types of dietary intake, which were called "prudent" and "Western". The "prudent" diet was characterized by higher intakes of fruits, vegetables, legumes, fish, poultry, and whole grains. The "Western" diet included higher intakes of red and processed meats, sweets, and desserts, French fries, and refined grains.

All new cases of type diabetes reported from 1984 onwards were confirmed by supplemental questionnaires that assessed symptoms, test results, and treatment prescribed.

What was found

The nurses' age ranged from 38 to 55 at baseline. During the 14 years of follow-up, 2699 cases of type 2 diabetes were diagnosed; 1604 of these had actual symptoms of the disease (excessive thirst, frequent urination, weight loss, and hunger).

Women who scored high on the "Western" diet range tended to smoke more, and ate less folate, fiber, and protein. After adjusting for factors like this that might interfere with the result, it was found that there was an increased relative risk of 1.49 for diabetes in those eating the highest "Western" type diet, compared with those eating the lowest "Western" diet. The "relative risk" means that the highest "Western" diet eaters had 1.49 times the chance of developing diabetes, compared with those eating the lowest "Western" diet.

On the other hand, the highest followers of the "prudent" diet had a lessened risk of developing diabetes, compared with the lowest "prudent" dieters. However, the difference was only significant in the case of diabetics with symptoms.

Returning to the "Western" diet eaters: the relative risk for diabetes for each serving increase per day was 1.26 for red meat, 1.73 for bacon, 1.49 for hot dogs, and 1.43 for processed meat.

What this means

A similar result to the above has been reported for men over a 12-year period.¹ Several other studies have shown the reduced risk for diabetes among vegetarians, while others have shown an association between a "Western" diet and increased blood sugar or raised insulin levels in the blood. Clearly, diet matters. It makes sense to cut down on your meat intake, in favor of more beans, peas, fruits, and nuts. The links below give other good reasons to favor this sort of diet.

Source

• Dietary patterns, meat intake, and the risk of type 2 diabetes in women. TT. Fung, M. Schulze, JE. Manson,  et al., Arch Intern Med, 2004, vol. 164, pp. 2235--2240

Footnotes
1. Dietary patterns and risk for type 2 diabetes mellitus in US men. RM. Van Damm, EB. Rimm, WC. Willett,  et al., Ann Intern Med, 2002, vol. 136, pp. 201--209

Related Links
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Fruits and Vegetables: The Benefits Come From the Sum of Their Parts