Dietary context in the association between red meat consumption and risk of type 2 diabetes

It has been suggested that dietary factors correlated with red meat may contribute to its adverse health effects, while consuming red meat within a healthy diet may not necessarily increase disease risk.

Among 204,740 participants from three prospective cohorts, we examined the association between red meat consumption and risk of type 2 diabetes (T2D) across different levels of diet quality, measured by Alternative Healthy Eating Index (AHEI)-2010 (excluding red and processed meat component), using multivariable-adjusted Cox proportional hazards models. Dietary intake was assessed using repeated food frequency questionnaires.

During a median follow-up of 28 years, 18,868 cases were documented. Mean values were 47.3 (SD 8.5) for AHEI-2010 and 6.5 (SD 3.5), 1.8 (SD 1.5), and 4.8 (SD 2.5) servings/week for total, processed, and unprocessed red meat, respectively. Greater red meat consumption was consistently associated with a higher T2D risk across AHEI-2010 strata. Comparing the highest with the lowest quintile of red meat consumption in the highest diet quality quintile, the multivariable-adjusted HRs were 1.95 (1.72, 2.21) for total, 1.88 (1.67, 2.13) for processed, and 1.67 (1.47, 1.90) for unprocessed red meat. Substituting red meat with major food groups was associated with a lower T2D risk, particularly among those with high diet quality. The benefit of lowering red meat consumption was greater in participants with higher diet quality.

The risk associated with high red meat consumption persisted even among participants with a relatively high diet quality, underscoring the importance of limiting red meat consumption to prevent T2D.