Red meat contains large amounts of iron, creatine, minerals such as zinc and phosphorus, and B vitamins. Red meat is a source of lipoic acid.
Although packed with many nutrients, regular intake of red meat could lead to increasing risk of developing type 2 diabetes, a new study suggests. Red meat contains a type of iron that may increase your risk of developing type 2 diabetes.
For the study, scientists examined 36 years of dietary reports from more than 200,000 adults, assessing their intake of various forms of iron from foods and supplements. Participants who ate the most foods high in heme iron (found in red meat and other animal proteins) were 26 percent more likely to develop type 2 diabetes than people who consumed the smallest amounts of these foods, according to results published in Nature Metabolism.
In particular, more than half of the type 2 diabetes risk associated with unprocessed red meat could be explained by its high heme iron content, the analysis found.
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But non-heme iron, the kind found in unprocessed plant proteins, and iron supplements didn’t appear to have a meaningful impact on type 2 diabetes risk.
“Reducing heme iron intake from red meat, and incorporating more plant-based protein sources, such as legumes, tofu, nuts, and seeds, can be effective strategies for lowering diabetes risk,” says the senior study author, Frank Hu, MD, PhD, MPH, a professor of nutrition and epidemiology at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health in Boston.
Also, ultra-processed plant-based meat alternatives may contain genetically modified heme to enhance flavor and appearance.
Higher consumption of heme iron has been linked to a wide variety of health issues, including a condition known as iron overload, when organ damage occurs because the body stores too much iron, and oxidative stress, an imbalance of antioxidants in the body, both of which can increase the risk of type 2 diabetes, Dr. Hu said.
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