Two Slices of Ham a Day May Raise Risk of Type 2 Diabetes by 15%

Eating just 2 slices of ham a day can increase your risk of type 2 diabetes by 15%, according to a new study.

Researchers from the University of Cambridge looked at the meat consumption of 2 million adults in what is believed to be “the largest meta-analysis on the subject”. Their findings were published in Lancet.

They studied the health effects of those who ate 100g of red meat a day, which they said was “equivalent to consuming a small steak or a medium-sized hamburger patty a day” and 50g of processed meat a day, which was “two or three slices of bacon or medium-sized sausages”.

Stock image of processed meat.

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Or two slices of ham, like The Guardian stands out. “Our research provides the most comprehensive evidence to date of an association between consumption of processed meat and unprocessed red meat and a higher future risk of type 2 diabetes,” said Prof. Nita Forouhi of the University of Cambridge, senior author of the study. according to The Guardian.

“It supports recommendations to limit the consumption of processed meat and unprocessed red meat to reduce the incidence of type 2 diabetes in the population.”

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Experts, however, said there were other factors at play.

“The authors tried to control for other risk factors associated with an increased risk of developing type 2 diabetes, including being overweight, smoking, alcohol, low vegetable intake,” said Dr Duane Mellor, of the British Dietetic Association. BBC.

Picture of sausages, bacon and prosciutto.

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As the Mayo Clinic explains, with type 2 diabetes, “there are primarily two problems. The pancreas does not produce enough insulin — the hormone that regulates the movement of sugar into the cells. And the cells respond poorly to insulin and take in less sugar.”

There are many risk factors, but weight, inactivity, and fat distribution — which the Mayo Clinic says “store fat mostly in the abdomen, rather than the hips and thighs” — can increase the risk of developing type 2 diabetes.

This is not the first time that red meat has been linked to an increased risk of diabetes; last year, researchers from the Harvard TH Chan School of Public Health analyzed data from 216,695 participants.

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They found that “total intake of both processed and unprocessed red meat was positively and approximately linearly associated with a higher risk of type 2 diabetes” — noting that 22,761 study participants developed type 2 diabetes.

And although the latest study includes “observational” evidence, Prof. Naveed Sattar, an expert in cardiometabolic medicine at the University of Glasgow, told the BBC, “The evidence suggests that cutting out red and processed meat from the diet can not only protect people from heart disease and stroke, but also from type 2 diabetes, a disease that is on the rise worldwide.”

Categories: Trends
Source: HIS Education