Does Meat Cause Diabetes

A Diabetes Link To Meat

Right Now | Getting the Red out [extra:Extra] Read more about Harvard’s “Healthy Eating Plate.” Also: Red-meat consumption is already linked to higher levels of colorectal cancer and cardiovascular disease (atherosclerosis, heart disease, and stroke). Now researchers from Harvard School of Public Health (HSPH) have added an increased risk of type 2 (adult onset) diabetes to that list. The incurable illness occurs when the body’s ability to control blood glucose levels by means of insulin secretion becomes impaired, either because of “insulin resistance” (when insulin fails to trigger effective glucose uptake by muscle or other tissues), or because production of insulin by beta cells in the pancreas declines. The HSPH investigators, led by professor of epidemiology Frank Hu and research fellow An Pan, analyzed data from three longitudinal studies of male and female healthcare professionals who were followed for 14 to 28 years. After adjusting for other risk factors, the researchers found that a daily serving of red meat no larger than a deck of cards increased the risk of adult-onset diabetes by 19 percent. Processed red meat proved much worse: a daily serving half that size—one hot dog, or two slices of bacon, for example—was associated with a 51 percent increase in risk. (The average 10-year risk of getting diabetes for U.S. adults is around 10 percent.) Why is red meat harmful? “Saturated fat, which can lead to cardiovascular disease, is really just the beginning of the story,” explains Hu. Even though it is “difficult to pinpoint one compound or ingredient” as mechanistically linked to diabetes risk, three components of red meat—sodium, nitrites, and iron—are probably involved. Sodium is well known to increase blood pressure, but it also c Continue reading >>

Does Sugar Cause Diabetes?

The recent film What the Health raised the question as to whether sugar or other carbohydrates cause diabetes. Because blood sugar levels are high in diabetes, a common notion has held that eating sugar somehow triggers the disease process. The American Diabetes Association and Diabetes UK have labeled this notion a “myth,” as has the Joslin Diabetes Center, which wrote, “Diabetes is not caused by eating too much sugar.” These and other organizations have worked to educate people about the causes of diabetes and the role that foods play in the disease process. Type 1 diabetes is an autoimmune disease. Type 2 diabetes—the most common form of the disease—is caused by insulin resistance and pancreatic failure. Sugar can play an aiding and abetting role in diabetes, but the idea that “eating sugar causes diabetes” is simplistic and interferes with efforts to help the public understand the actual causes of the disease and how to protect themselves and their families. Here is what you need to know: The human body runs on glucose, a simple sugar. Just as gasoline powers your car, glucose powers your muscles, your brain, and the rest of your body. Glucose comes from fruit and from starchy foods, such as grains, beans, and potatoes, and your body can also produce it when needed. Without it, you would die. Diabetes means having higher-than-normal blood glucose values. It comes in three common forms: Type 1 diabetes is caused by the destruction of the insulin-producing cells of the pancreas, usually through an autoimmune process. The triggers for this process are under investigation and may include dairy proteins, viruses, or other factors. Type 2 diabetes typically starts with insulin resistance. That is, the cells of the body resist insulin’s efforts to escort Continue reading >>

Does Red Meat Raise Blood Sugars?

Recently I have heard more and more people use the phrase “I don’t eat red meat because it bad for my blood sugars.” As red meat- along with any other cuts of meat- is a food made up of only fat and protein, eating red meat will have no immediate effect on your blood sugar. Crash course in macro-nutrients Foods can be broken up into three macro-nutrient categories: Carbohydrate, Fat and Protein. Blood sugars increase when we consume Carbohydrate foods- fruits, rice, beans, pastas, breads, milk, and starchy vegetables such as corn, potatoes and winter squash. As these foods are digested into their basic components- glucose is released into the bloodstream. This glucose is what causes blood sugars to raise after eating a food containing Carbohydrates. Protein foods however do not have glucose as part of their elemental structure, instead they break down into amino acids. Amino acids aid in building muscle and repairing cells in your body. Fats can be either saturated or unsaturated fats and fuel cells providing a required source of energy for our brains for survival. Red meat Foods are often a combination of these three macronutrients. Take red meat for example: Beef contains both protein and fat, but no carbohydrates. Where then does the misconception that red meat hurts blood sugars come from? Red meat is typically high in fats, especially saturated fatty acids. Foods containing fat are higher in calories which may lead to poor weight control if eaten in excess. As mentioned before, fats are essential for brain and cell health, but the American Diabetes Association recommends limiting fats to less than 30% of total calorie consumption with saturated fats making up less than 10% calorie consumption. Saturated fatty acids are the types of fat that stay solid at room Continue reading >>

Does Sugar Cause Diabetes?

The recent film What the Health raised the question as to whether sugar or other carbohydrates cause diabetes. The notion is understandable. Blood sugar levels are high in diabetes, so a common idea has held that eating sugar somehow triggers the disease process. However, the major diabetes organizations take a different view. The American Diabetes Association1 and Diabetes UK2 have labelled this notion a “myth,” as has the Joslin Diabetes Center,3 which wrote, “Diabetes is not caused by eating too much sugar.” These and other organizations have worked to educate people about the causes of diabetes and the role that foods play in the disease process. Type 1 diabetes is an autoimmune disease. Type 2 diabetes—the most common form of the disease—is caused by insulin resistance and pancreatic failure. Here is what you need to know: Sugar Is the Body’s Fuel The human body runs on glucose, a simple sugar. Just as gasoline powers your car, glucose powers your muscles, your brain, and the rest of your body. Glucose comes from fruit and from starchy foods, such as grains, beans, and potatoes, and your body can also produce it when needed. Without it you would die. Diabetes means having higher-than-normal blood glucose values. It comes in three common forms: Type 1 diabetes is caused by the destruction of the insulin-producing cells of the pancreas, usually through an autoimmune process. The triggers for this process are under investigation and may include dairy proteins, viruses, or other factors. Type 2 diabetes typically starts with insulin resistance. That is, the cells of the body resist insulin’s efforts to escort glucose into the cells. What causes insulin resistance? It appears to be caused by an accumulation of microscopic fat particles within muscle and Continue reading >>

Diabetes

More than 23 million Americans suffer from diabetes, and it often has devastating consequences, including blindness, birth defects, and an increased risk of death from heart disease, strokes, and kidney disease. Diabetes is one of the most common causes of death in the U.S., and experts estimate that the disease costs the American economy $174 billion a year. While the impact of diabetes is staggering, the great news is that diabetes can largely be prevented or controlled by lifestyle changes—namely, a healthy plant-based diet and exercise. The National Institutes of Health and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention agree that one of the most effective ways to prevent or treat diabetes is to consume more vegetables, beans, and whole grains while eating less animal flesh. Numerous studies have found that adopting a vegetarian diet improves diabetics’ health and reduces the risk of developing the disease in the first place! According to a study conducted by the University of California and published by Diabetes in Control, patients with type 2 diabetes who followed a low-fat vegetarian diet lost significantly more weight than those who followed the American Diabetes Association’s guidelines. Although the patients on the vegetarian diet saw their cholesterol levels drop significantly, the patients who followed the other guidelines actually saw their cholesterol levels increase! Several studies have found a link between the consumption of dairy products in childhood and the development of type 1 diabetes. A report by researchers at the Clinical Nutrition & Risk Factor Modification Center at St. Michael’s Hospital in Toronto stated that diets rich in healthy plant-based foods lead to improved glycemic control, reduced lipid levels, and reduced rates of renal Continue reading >>

Diet And Diabetes: Why Saturated Fats Are The Real Enemy

This is the seventh article in our “Controversies” series and the third piece focusing on the subject of fats. Today, we are going to explore the very important relationship between saturated fat intake and the onset of diabetes. As we mentioned in The Ultimate Guide to Saturated Fats, “Once we control for weight, alcohol, smoking, exercise and family history, the incidence of diabetes is significantly associated with the proportion of saturated fat in our blood.” Today we will take a deep dive to fully understand why there is such a strong link between diabetes and saturated fat consumption. We will also discuss how a plant-based diet may protect you from (or even reverse!) the disease. What Is Insulin Resistance? Insulin resistance is a hallmark of both prediabetes and type 2 diabetes. So what is insulin resistance exactly (and why is it important)? Let me explain. Insulin is what permits glucose (sugar) in the blood to enter our (muscle) cells. In essence, insulin ‘unlocks’ the door, allowing the glucose to come in. If there is no insulin at all (the case of type 1 diabetes), the blood sugar ‘hangs out’ in the bloodstream because it cannot get inside. That causes the blood sugar levels to rise. But what happens if the insulin is there but is simply not working properly? In that case, the lock to the cell door is ‘blocked.’ This is what is called insulin resistance. So what causes insulin resistance in the first place? Insulin resistance is caused by fat. Fat build-up inside (muscle) cells creates toxic fatty breakdown products and free radicals that ‘block’ the insulin-signaling process, close the ‘glucose gate,’ and make blood sugar levels rise. And this cycle can happen really fast. In fact, insulin resistance can occur in 180 short minu Continue reading >>

Does Eating Red Meat Increase Type 2 Diabetes Risk?

153 Comments If you already eat Primal, your email inboxes are most likely filling up with links to the story. Concerned mothers clutching the local paper’s “Health” section are calling (or, if they’re hip, texting). Smug vegetarian Facebook friends are posting the story on your wall, sans commentary. Yes, it’s about that time again. It’s another week, it’s another observational study by data-mining researchers hoping to establish a solid link between red meat and some chronic, horrific illness. So, what’s killing us this time? Well, considering that they’ve already done studies linking red meat to colorectal cancer, heart disease, and outright death, type 2 diabetes is next. Here’s a link to the full study (PDF). Researchers drew on data from three large-scale dietary habit questionnaires of medical professionals to explore how red and processed meat intakes associated with the incidence of type 2 diabetes. The first set was the Health Professionals Follow-Up Study, which comprised 37,083 male physicians followed for 20 years; the second was the Nurses’ Health Study I, which included 79,570 female nurses followed for 28 years; and the third was the Nurses’ Health Study II, which followed 87,504 women for 14 years. These data were pooled with additional data from 442,101 participants in existing studies, so it was a big pile of numbers with which to work. Sure enough, they found a link between processed meat intake and type 2 diabetes, with a smaller link between unprocessed red meat and the illness. A daily 50 gram serving of processed red meat was associated with a 51% greater risk of developing type 2 diabetes, while a 100 gram serving of fresh red meat represented a 19% increased risk. Unprocessed meat included “beef, lamb, or pork as main Continue reading >>

Top 10 Worst Foods For Diabetes

These foods can can cause blood sugar spikes or increase your risk of diabetes complications. Bacon In addition to whole-fat dairy foods, fatty or marbled cuts of meat also carry a hefty amount of saturated fat, which initiates inflammation in the body and leads to various side effects. Since those with diabetes are already at an increased risk of heart disease, eating high-fat meats puts them at an even greater risk than the average person. Instead of feasting on fatty bacon, hamburgers, bologna, hot dogs, or spare ribs, fill your plate with lean protein choices like skinless chicken and turkey, fish and shellfish, or lean pork tenderloin. Previous Next More Photos Snack Cakes and Pastries Whole Milk Continue reading >>

Is Fat Killing You, Or Is Sugar?

In the early nineteen-sixties, when cholesterol was declared an enemy of health, my parents quickly enlisted in the war on fat. Onion rolls slathered with butter, herring in thick cream sauce, brisket of beef with a side of stuffed derma, and other staples of our family cuisine disappeared from our table. Margarine dethroned butter, vinegar replaced cream sauce, poached fish substituted for brisket. I recall experiencing something like withdrawal, daydreaming about past feasts as my stomach grumbled. My father’s blood-cholesterol level—not to mention that of his siblings and friends—became a regular topic of conversation at the dinner table. Yet, despite the restrictive diet, his number scarcely budged, and a few years later, in his mid-fifties, he had a heart attack and died. The dangers of fat haunted me after his death. When, in my forties, my cholesterol level rose to 242—200 is considered the upper limit of what’s healthy—I embarked on a regimen that restricted fatty foods (and also cut down on carbohydrates). Six months later, having shed ten pounds, I rechecked my level. It was unchanged; genes have a way of signalling their power. But as soon as my doctor put me on just a tiny dose of a statin medication my cholesterol plummeted more than eighty points. In recent decades, fat has been making a comeback. Researchers have questioned whether dietary fat is necessarily dangerous, and have shown that not all fats are created equal. People now look for ways of boosting the “good cholesterol” in their blood and extol the benefits of Mediterranean diets, with their emphasis on olive oil and fatty nuts. In some quarters, blame for obesity and heart disease has shifted from fat to carbohydrates. The Atkins diet and, more recently, the paleo diet have popul Continue reading >>

Red Meat Increases Risk Of Dying From 8 Diseases

The more red meat you eat, the greater your risk of dying from one of eight diseases, according to a new report. Researchers studied more than 536,000 men and women ages 50 to 71, tracking their diet and health for an average of 16 years. They recorded intake of total meat, processed and unprocessed red meat (beef, lamb and pork), and white meat (poultry and fish). Compared with the one-fifth of people who ate the least red meat, the one-fifth who ate the most had a 26 percent increased risk of death from various causes. High red meat consumption increased the rate of dying from cancer, heart disease, respiratory disease, stroke, diabetes, infections, kidney disease and liver disease. The study is in BMJ. White meat, on the other hand, may be good for you. The researchers found that those who ate the highest proportion of white meat had a 25 percent reduced risk of dying from various causes compared with those who ate the least white meat. “This is an observational study,” said the lead author, Arash Etemadi, an epidemiologist with the National Cancer Institute, “and we can’t determine whether red meat is responsible for these associations. But we have a 16-year follow-up, and we had the numbers to look at different causes, and we can see that it’s happening” for many causes of death. Continue reading >>

Type 2 Diabetes Warning: Too Much Red Meat And Poultry Can Increase Risk

Dinner time favourites such as beef and lamb are high in iron, a mineral associated with triggering the debilitating disease. But even chicken thighs and drumsticks can be bad for you, say experts. The darker the meat, the greater the risk, with scientists finding a direct link between consumption and Type 2 diabetes. Almost 12 million Britons are thought to be at risk of developing the condition, which is linked to lifestyle factors such as poor diet. Analysis of more than 60,000 people shows those eating the most red meat increase their risk by 23 per cent while for those who eat a lot of dark poultry meat the risk increases by 15 per cent. Experts suggest cutting out dark meat and replacing it with chicken breast, fish, shellfish and vegetables. Dietitian Pav Kalsi, clinical adviser to charity Diabetes UK, said: “We know eating more red and processed meats is associated with a higher risk of Type 2 diabetes. “Simple changes to diet include eating less processed and red meat and instead getting protein from plant sources such as pulses, beans and lentils and from lean poultry and oily fish. “Eating more fruit and vegetables and whole grains, as well as cutting down on the amount of sugar, salt and fat in your diet can help too.” The new study, one of the biggest of its kind, looked at the diets of 63,257 people aged between 45 and 74 who took part in the Singapore Chinese Health Study between 1993 and 1998. Scientists from Duke-NUS Medical School in Singapore then followed the group over the next 11 years, identifying 5,207 new cases of Type 2 diabetes. They say the association between red meat intake and Type 2 risk was “statistically significant”. Senior author Professor Koh Woon Puay said: “We don’t need to remove meat from the diet entirely just re Continue reading >>

Daily Red Meat Raises Risk For Diabetes, Large Study Says

Sugary soda and other sweet treats are likely not the only foods to blame for the surge in diabetes across the U.S. New research out of Harvard University supports the theory that regular red meat consumption increases the risk of getting type 2 diabetes. An average of just one 85-gram (three-ounce) serving of unprocessed red meat—such as a medium hamburger or a small pork chop—per day increased by 12 percent the chances a person would get type 2 diabetes over the course of a decade or two. And if the meat was processed—such as a hot dog or two slices of bacon—the risk increased to 32 percent, even though serving sizes were smaller. The new study, published online August 10 in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, is not the first to find the link between red meat and diabetes risk. But it is the largest and one of the first to look separately at unprocessed and processed meats. "On a gram-per-gram basis, unprocessed red meat is still better," says Frank Hu, a professor of nutrition and epidemiology at the Harvard School of Public Health and co-author of the new paper. "But unprocessed red meat is still associated with a significantly increased risk." More than 8.5 percent of U.S. adults have been diagnosed with diabetes, and in some counties in the so-called "diabetes belt" in the South, the numbers exceed 11.2 percent. The rates are expected to keep climbing in the coming years. Hu suggests that based on the analysis there is indeed a "disease burden that can be attributed to consumption of either processed or unprocessed red meat." It's what's for dinner, for many A U.S. adult consumes an average of more than 45 kilograms (100 pounds) of red meat a year. "There's no question that consumption of red meat is too high," Hu says, suggesting nuts, whole grai Continue reading >>

Eating Too Much Meat 'raises Risk Of Diabetes' Even If They Eat Lots Of Fruit And Vegetables Too

Meat-lovers could be at higher odds of diabetes – even if they eat lots of fruit and vegetables. A long-term study of more than 60,000 women has linked meat, cheese and other ingredients of an ‘acidic diet’ with type 2, or adult-onset, diabetes. The women who ate the most acid-forming foods were 56 per cent more likely to develop the condition than those whose who ate the least. Fruit and vegetables didn’t completely compensate for the effect and, surprisingly slim women were at particular risk, the journal Diabetologica reports. Type 2 diabetes is the most common form of the disease and accounts for about 90 per cent of the 2.9million Britons diagnosed with diabetes. Almost one million more cases are believed to be undiagnosed. It is usually linked to obesity and sugary foods but the latest study points the finger at meat and other foods that produce acid after being digested. It is thought the acid raises odds of diabetes by make it harder for the body to turn the sugar from the food we eat into energy. The French study involved 66,485 women who had their health tracked for 14 years. The volunteers had given detailed information about their diet which was used to work out how acidic their food was after it was digested. Some 1,372 women had developed diabetes by the end of the study and diagnoses were particularly common in those with acidic diets. These include meat, cheese, fish, bread and soft drinks. The least acid-forming foods include coffee, fruit and vegetables. The researchers, from the INSERM medical research institute in Paris, said that while oranges and lemons are acidic at the outset, after digestion, they actually reduce the amount of acid in the body. They said: ‘Contrary to what is generally believed, most fruits such as peaches, apples, pea Continue reading >>

High Meat Intake Increases Diabetes Risk, Study Shows

A Singaporean population study has confirmed that a high intake of red meat and poultry can increase a person's risk of diabetes. Fish and shellfish, however, do not pose any risk, researchers say. Recently, many studies have shown that plant-based diets, rather than diets that favor a high meat intake, are more beneficial to health. For instance, last month, Medical News Today reported on a study that linked vegetarian diets with lower cholesterol levels. At the same time, many existing studies link meat consumption with a higher risk of developing diabetes. New research from the Duke-NUS Medical School in Singapore confirms previous findings and adds new considerations as to why eating too much meat can predispose individuals to diabetes. Prof. Woon-Puay Koh, a professor of clinical sciences at the Duke-NUS Medical School, and her colleagues evaluated the link between red meat, poultry, fish, and shellfish and type 2 diabetes, taking into account the impact of heme iron - which is iron content absorbed from meat - intake. The researchers' findings were published in the American Journal of Epidemiology. Red meat and poultry increase risk The researchers analyzed data from the Singapore Chinese Health Study, involving 63,257 adults aged between 45 and 74. These were recruited between 1993 and 1998, and they were followed-up by means of two interviews: one in 1999 to 2004, and the other in 2006 to 2010. It was found that people who had a higher dietary intake of red meat and poultry were at an increased risk of diabetes. Both fish and shellfish consumption, however, were not found to pose any dangers. Individuals who ate the most red meat, the researchers noted, had a 23 percent higher risk of diabetes than those who ate little red meat. Eating a lot of poultry was linke Continue reading >>

Why Is Meat A Risk Factor For Diabetes?

Bill, I think a lot of McDougall’s program as well. The thing I like about Barnard’s book is that he had recipes that featured low glycemic index plant foods that help to keep blood sugar under control while the diet helps your muscles do a little house cleaning and get the fat out. My understanding is only under high levels of circulating FFA do those fats get stash fat in the muscles, so given an opportunity the fat out of the muscles when the circulating levels of FFA drop. That means the effectiveness of the diet isn’t predicated on losing a bunch of weight, which is good since you say that you are already lean. The trouble is that the source of the free fatty acids is mainly from saturated fat, the very type of fat that is highest in most low-carb diets. So instead of fixing the root cause of diabetes, a low-carb diet that is high in saturated fat may in fact *be* the root cause of diabetes. Thus the recommended diabetic diet might in fact be the cause for why once developed diabetes only progresses and never reverses or stays the same! It is like treating somebody for a toxic effects of a low level poison by putting them on a diet containing the poison. Also non-estrified fatty acids (NEFA) that come from saturated fat also reduced insulin output from the pancreas. So the same high saturated fat diet that is causing insulin resistance looks to be also reducing the body’s ability produce more insulin to compensate. The good news is that without the suppressive effect of saturated fat, you body might be able to produce more insulin than you think it can. And even better new is that the effects of going whole hog (so to speak) and going 100% plant based (with sufficient fore thought and planning and practice so it isn’t punishment food) appears to be rapid Continue reading >>