If you find this new study on the internet, you’ll see it reported with the eye-catching headline about how eating two slices of ham a day will increase your diabetes risk. While that is kind of true, the research is much broader. It’s not just ham.
Scientists at the University of Cambridge found a significant link between eating processed meat and red meat and an increased risk of developing type 2 diabetes. Their study, published in The Lancet Diabetes & Endocrinology, analyzed data from almost 2 million people in 20 countries.
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The whole “two slices of ham a day thing” comes from the point in the study where they say that eating just 50 grams of processed meat a day was associated with a 50% higher risk of developing type 2 diabetes over a decade. And 50 grams of processed meat happens to be roughly equivalent to two slices of ham.
Consuming 100 grams of unprocessed red meat every day, which is roughly the size of a small steak, carries with it a 10% risk increase. Poultry? You bet that’s associated with type 2 diabetes. They say 100 grams of poultry a day correlates with an increased risk of 8%. But the study admits that one needs more research.
Nita Forouhi, a senior author of the study, notes that the research does not establish direct causation. It’s purely observational. More should be done to solidify the link between processed and red meats and the development of type 2 diabetes. But there’s already so much; all the new study does is add more fuel to the fire.
