Research
Energy balance
The association between increased red meat consumption and type 2 diabetes risk is partly mediated by body weight gain, but remains significant even after adjusting for initial BMI and concurrent weight changes.
Reducing red meat helps manage weight, which in turn lowers diabetes risk. However, even if you maintain your weight, reducing red meat still offers a protective benefit against type 2 diabetes, suggesting there are other metabolic benefits beyond just calorie control.
GoodQualifiesHIGH confidence
the association was modestly attenuated after further adjustment for initial body mass index and concurrent weight gain (1.30; 95% CI, 1.21-1.41).
Why this rating
Robust observational data with detailed covariate adjustment.
Source
Changes in Red Meat Consumption and Subsequent Risk of Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus
An Pan et al. · JAMA Internal Medicine · 2013
DOI 10.1001/jamainternmed.2013.6633
cohort · n=149143Cited 230×
Read the paper DOI resolved against Crossref · corpus check 2026-06-10
More from this paper
- Increasing red meat consumption by more than 0.50 servings per day over a 4-year period is associated with a 48% higher risk of developing type 2 diabetes in the subsequent 4 years.Good
- Reducing red meat consumption by more than 0.50 servings per day from baseline to the first 4-year follow-up is associated with a 14% lower risk of type 2 diabetes during the subsequent long-term follow-up (up to 16 years).Good
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