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Red meat cooking method may influence type 2 diabetes risk
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The risk for type 2 diabetes in women may be increased when they consume red meat that is cooked by barbequing or broiling, whereas the risk was not associated with pan-frying, stewing or boiling, according to findings published in Diabetes Care.
Qi Sun, MD, MMS, ScD, assistant professor in the department of nutrition at Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, and colleagues evaluated data from the Nurses’ Health Study on 59,033 women followed for 26 years to assess whether different cooking methods for red meats had an effect on the risk for type 2 diabetes when the women consumed at least two servings per week.
There were 6,206 incident cases of type 2 diabetes during 1.24 million person-years of follow-up.
The risk for type 2 diabetes was increased by 6% with each one-serving increase per day for total red meat consumption and by 16% with each one-serving increase per day for processed red meat consumption, after multivariate adjustment including baseline BMI and red meat cooking methods.
The risk for type 2 diabetes was increased with a higher frequency of cooking red meat by broiling, barbequing and roasting, but not by pan-frying and stewing or boiling after multivariate adjustment. The HRs for type 2 diabetes were 1.32 (95% CI, 1.22-1.43) for broiling, 1.27 (95% CI, 1.14-1.41) for barbequing, 1.15 (95% CI, 1.04-1.27) for roasting, 0.89 (95% CI, 0.8-0.98) for pan frying and 0.99 (95% CI, 0.87-1.12) for stewing or boiling when comparing cooking frequencies of at least two times per week with less than one time per month.
Weight gain was greater during the follow-up period from 1986 to 1994 with increased frequency of broiling and barbequing red meats, but not with the other cooking methods.
The risk for type 2 diabetes was decreased by 9% when broiling or barbequing was substituted with pan-frying once a week and by 6% when it was substituted with stewing or boiling.
“The positive associations of broiling and barbequing red meats with [type 2 diabetes] risk appeared to be partially accounted for by changes in BMI during follow-up, although the possibility of residual confounding by factors leading to both weight gain and a preference for using high-temperature cooking methods cannot be excluded.” – by Amber Cox
Disclosure: Sun reports no relevant financial disclosures.
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