The research, in The Lancet Diabetes and Endocrinology, external journal, has an inevitable limitation – it cannot prove meat causes diabetes, because it is impossible to fully discount all the other possible risk factors, such as other foods people in the study ate and the lifestyle they led.
Dr Duane Mellor, of the British Dietetic Association, said: “The authors did try to control for other risk factors associated with increased risk of developing type 2 diabetes, including having a higher body weight, smoking, alcohol, low vegetable intake.”
There was some missing data for the effect of family history and waist circumference, which can be associated with diabetes, but the researchers say they are confident in the link that they found.
Studies such as this have to rely on participants telling the truth and accurately recalling what they eat.
Does that mean the findings should be entirely dismissed?
No – not at all. It adds to a growing picture of what foods – and how much – might be good or bad for us.
Prof Naveed Sattar, an expert in cardiometabolic medicine at the University of Glasgow, said: “This is an important study which, despite the inevitable observational nature of the evidence, is very well done.
“The data suggest cutting red and processed meats from diets may not only protect people from heart disease and stroke but also from type 2 diabetes, a disease on the rise worldwide.”
By
Source link
