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Association between meat consumption and risk of type 2 diabetes
Last reviewed: 02.07.2025
A new study published in The Lancet Diabetes & Endocrinology examined the association between consumption of unprocessed red meat, processed meat and poultry and the risk of developing type 2 diabetes using global cohort data and standard analytical approaches.
Over the past 50 years, meat production has increased significantly worldwide to meet growing demand, often exceeding optimal dietary recommendations in different regions. Previous studies have shown that increased meat consumption, especially processed and unprocessed red meat, is associated with an increased risk of non-communicable diseases, especially type 2 diabetes.
However, these studies often yielded conflicting conclusions due to differences in data interpretation, research methods, and characteristics of different populations. In addition, most of these studies were conducted in the United States and Europe, while studies in Asian countries are rare, indicating an imbalance in geographic coverage and a lack of data on diverse populations.
Poultry is generally considered a healthier alternative to red and processed meat, but there is little data on how poultry consumption affects the risk of type 2 diabetes. Therefore, there are still no clear dietary recommendations regarding the consumption of certain types of meat that do not negatively affect blood sugar levels.
The researchers hypothesized that red and processed meat consumption increases the risk of type 2 diabetes, while poultry consumption does not. This hypothesis was tested using harmonized data from individual participants in the global InterConnect project.
A total of 1,966,444 participants were recruited from 31 cohorts in 20 countries, including 12 cohorts from the Americas, 9 from Europe, 7 from the Western Pacific, 2 from the Eastern Mediterranean, and 1 from Southeast Asia. All participants were ≥18 years old and provided data on their diet and diabetes status. Participants with invalid energy intake data, diagnosed diabetes, or missing data were excluded.
During the 10-year follow-up period, 107,271 cases of type 2 diabetes were recorded. The study found that unprocessed red meat consumption was positively associated with the risk of developing type 2 diabetes. A similar association was found for processed meat and poultry consumption.
Replacing 50 g/day of processed meat with 100 g/day of unprocessed red meat can reduce the risk of diabetes by 7%. A similar risk reduction was seen when replacing processed meat with poultry.
This association was independent of age, sex, body mass index (BMI), meat consumption level, dietary assessment method, duration of follow-up, and geographic location.
The study results support previous findings that reducing consumption of processed and unprocessed red meat reduces the risk of developing type 2 diabetes. However, further research is needed to verify the positive association between poultry consumption and diabetes, and to examine the impact of reducing meat consumption on the risk of other noncommunicable diseases.