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# Eating meat linked to type 2 diabetes
- URL: https://www.foodconsumer.org/meat_linked_to_type_2_diabetes_0505130431/
- Published: 2013-05-05T17:30:00.000Z
- Updated: 2026-09-22T15:59:38.000Z
- Description: Following 340,234 people in eight European countries for nearly 12 years, EPIC researchers found each extra 50 grams of meat a day went with an 8 percent higher risk of type 2 diabetes, rising to 12 percent for processed meat. The link was weaker in obese participants.
- Author: Food Consumer
- Tags: Diabetes, Avoiding Illness, #vivvo-import

By Jimmy Downs

Sunday May 5, 2013 (foodconsumer.org) -- A study published recently in Diabetologia suggests eating meat can increase the risk of type 2 diabetes mellitus, a chronic disease with which a patient can produce insulin but can't effectively handle blood sugar.

B. Bendinelli and colleagues of InterAct Consortium analysed data from the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition (EPIC) study and found the link between meat assumption and type 2 diabetes mellitus.

Researchers reported that a diet rich in meat has been associated with increased risk for type 2 diabetes in previous studies. The current study confirmed the association.

For the study, 340,234 men and women from eight European countries were followed up for 11.7 years during which 12,403 incident cases of type 2 diabetes were identified.

The study shows that increasing meat intake by 50 grams per day was correlated with 8 percent increased risk for type 2 diabetes mellitus. For intake of each 50 grams of red meat and processed meat was associated with eight percent and 12 percent increased for type 2 diabetes, respectively.

Interestingly, poultry consumption did not seem healthier than processed meat and red meat and those with high intake of poultry were 20 percent more likely to develop type 2 diabetes, compared with those with low intake.

However, in obese men and women, the risk for type 2 diabetes from eating meat was not as significant, apparently because other risk factors in those individuals might be more important. Body mass index modified the association between meat consumption and risk for type 2 diabetes, according to the current study. 

The researchers concluded "This prospective study confirms a positive association between high consumption of total and red meat and incident type 2 diabetes in a large cohort of European adults."

Type 2 diabetes, which can lead to lethal complications such as heart disease and kidney disease, can be helped by following a healthy diet. Conventional treatment are to provide more insulin to help control glucose. A healthy diet can help improve insulin sensitivity and thus type 2 diabetes.

Those who have pre-diabetes and want to prevent type 2 diabetes want to consider taking curcumin as a dietary supplement in a dose of 6 grams per day for a few months, as an Indian study suggests. A low fat diet may also help as ot was found that saturated fat and trans fat can damage the cells that produce insulin.