New hours for Campbell's Pharmacy:
Monday - Friday 9am to 6pm. Saturday 9am-2pm and Sunday 9am-1pm.
Prescriptions are available for in store pick up, curbside pick up and delivery.

Get Healthy!

Why Red Meat May Be Especially Linked to Diabetes Risk
  • Posted August 13, 2024

Why Red Meat May Be Especially Linked to Diabetes Risk

Red meat contains a type of iron that could increase a person's risk of type 2 diabetes, a new study warns.

People who ate the most foods high in heme iron -- red meat and other animal products, mainly -- had a 26% higher risk of type 2 diabetes than those who ate the least, researchers reported Aug. 13 in the journal Nature Metabolism.

In fact, heme iron accounted for more than half of the type 2 diabetes risk associated with unprocessed red meat, researchers found.

But non-heme iron, which is found in plant-based foods, had no link at all with type 2 diabetes, results show.

“This study underscores the importance of healthy dietary choices in diabetes prevention,” said researcher Frank Hu, a professor of nutrition and epidemiology at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health in Boston.

“Reducing heme iron intake, particularly from red meat, and adopting a more plant-based diet can be effective strategies in lowering diabetes risk,” Hu added in a Harvard news release.

Heme iron comes from hemoglobin, a blood protein that facilitates the transport of oxygen in red blood cells. It’s commonly found in meat, poultry and seafood, and is more easily absorbed by the body than non-heme iron.

For the study, researchers assessed the link between iron intake and type 2 diabetes using 36 years of dietary reports from more than 206,000 health professionals enrolled in two long-term research projects.

They also analyzed the blood of more than 37,500 people to figure out how iron might be increasing diabetes risk.

Heme iron was associated with a wide array of blood biomarkers associated with type 2 diabetes, results showed.

The research team also identified a dozen blood metabolites that might play a role in the link between heme iron intake and type 2 diabetes risk, researchers said.

These findings raise concerns about the addition of heme iron to plant-based meat alternatives to enhance their meaty flavor and appearance, the researchers said.

More information

The Cleveland Clinic has more about dietary iron.

SOURCE: Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, news release, Aug. 13, 2024

HealthDay
Health News is provided as a service to Campbell's Pharmacy site users by HealthDay. Campbell's Pharmacy nor its employees, agents, or contractors, review, control, or take responsibility for the content of these articles. Please seek medical advice directly from your pharmacist or physician.
Copyright © 2024 HealthDay All Rights Reserved.