Study Reveals Link Between Red Meat and Diabetes

A recent study has revealed a potential link between a sugar molecule found in beef and lamb and an increased risk of type 2 diabetes, a finding that may help explain the long-known association between red meat consumption and the disease.

The molecule, known as Neu5Gc, is not naturally produced by the human body, meaning the immune system may treat it as foreign and trigger an inflammatory response that could be linked to the development of diabetes.

The study included approximately 90,000 adults in France, who were asked by researchers to record all food and beverage consumption over a 24-hour period on three separate occasions, in order to estimate the amount of the molecule each person obtained from their diet.

Researchers followed the participants for about seven years and found that those with the highest intake of Neu5Gc derived from meat were 63 percent more likely to develop type 2 diabetes compared to those with the lowest intake.

The average daily meat consumption was 97 grams for men and 73 grams for women, an amount equivalent to roughly one medium-sized steak.

The association between Neu5Gc consumption and diabetes risk remained significant even after adjusting for other factors, including age, smoking, physical activity, diet quality, and body mass index.

Leopold Fezeu, the study’s lead researcher from Sorbonne University in Paris, said the prevalence of red meat in Western diets, combined with the strong association between meat-derived Neu5Gc and the risk of type 2 diabetes, makes the finding “important.”

He added that future research should investigate whether reducing exposure to the molecule by favoring poultry or plant-based proteins over beef and lamb could help prevent type 2 diabetes.

The UK’s Department of Health advises people who consume more than 90 grams of red meat daily to reduce their intake to an average of 70 grams.