Eating red meat over time is associated with a higher chance of developing Type 2 diabetes, according to a study in JAMA Internal Medicine on Monday.

Illustrative image. (Source: Internet)

Diabetes is a disease in which a person's blood sugar, known as glucose, is too high. In Type 2 diabetes, the body does not make enough of the hormone insulin or ignores the presence of insulin, which is necessary to process glucose into energy used by cells in the body.

When glucose builds up, it can lead to diabetes-related health issues like high blood pressure, mental health troubles, hearing loss and eye, foot and skin complications.

Researchers from the National University of Singapore tracked people who had eaten red meat over four years and found that those who didn't change their red meat intake over the study periods were linked with a 48 percent increased risk of developing the disease.

On the other hand, people reducing red meat consumption during the entire follow-up period were associated to a 14 percent lower risk for diabetes.

The researchers also analyzed red meat and processed red meat separately, and found the association was greater for processed meat as the high level of saturated fatty acid in the processed meat was one of the main culprits behind the link to diabetes risk.

"Our results confirm the robustness of the association between red meat and T2DM (Type 2 Diabetes) and add further evidence that limiting red meat consumption over time confers benefits for T2DM prevention," wrote the authors, who were led by Dr. An Pan, a researcher at the National University of Singapore.

Source: Xinhuanet