According to experts, eating even 2 servings of red meat per week can increase the risk of developing diabetes

According to recent research, eating more than one serving of red meat per week may significantly increase the risk of developing type 2 diabetes. Alternatives include chicken and seafood, in addition to plant-based proteins such as soy, nuts, eggs, and low-fat or fat-free dairy. Getty Images

Eating more than one serving of red meat per week may significantly increase your risk of developing type 2 diabetes.

This is according to a study published on Thursday in American Journal of Clinical Nutrition. Researchers from the TH Chan School of General Medicine at Harvard University analyzed health data collected from nearly 220,000 participants over 36 years. During this time, nearly 10% of the participants developed type 2 diabetes.

When the researchers looked at the participants’ eating habits, they found that people who ate the most red meat had a 62 percent higher risk of developing type 2 diabetes compared to those who ate the least amount of red meat.

Researchers found that in addition to one serving of red meat per week, each serving of processed red meat increased the risk of diabetes by 46 percent, and each serving of unprocessed red meat increased the risk of diabetes by 24 percent.

“Based on our findings and previous work by others, limiting red meat to about one serving per week makes sense for people who want to improve their health,” said Dr. Walter Willett, a professor of epidemiology and nutrition at Harvard. News release about the study

Other studies, but not all, have reached similar conclusions. A 2013 study from Harvard and the Cleveland Clinic found that increased red meat consumption over time increases the risk of type 2 diabetes because it leads to weight gain.

But there may be more danger than the meat itself. A 2018 Harvard study found that people who often eat red meat, chicken, or fish cooked over an open flame or at a high temperature, like when you grill, have a 1.5-fold increased risk of developing type 2 diabetes.

According to the authors of the 2018 paper, this may be because cooking meat at high heat can produce chemicals such as heterocyclic aromatic amines, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, and advanced glycation end products, all of which are carcinogenic, increase inflammation, or sensitize. They reduce insulin.

Protein substitutes for red meat

If you want to eat instead, there are plenty of options.

According to the US Food and Drug Administration, everyone should consume 50 grams of protein per day based on a 2,000 calorie diet. But the agency encourages people to vary their protein sources and choose a variety of:

• Beans
• peas
• lentils
• egg
• Low-fat or fat-free dairy products
• Unsalted nuts and seeds
• Soy products
• Lekham meat – lean meat
• Birds
• Seafood

Good news for people: replacing a daily serving of red meat with nuts or legumes reduces the risk of type 2 diabetes by 30%. The authors of the latest study found that consuming protein from dairy sources instead reduced the risk by 22 percent.

And for the planet: Choosing healthy plant protein sources over red meat will reduce greenhouse gas emissions and slow climate change, the researchers added.