Meat Consumption and Risk of Developing Type 2 Diabetes in the SUN Project: A Highly Educated Middle-Class Population

• Published in: PloS one Vol. 11; no. 7; p. e0157990
• Main Authors: Mari-Sanchis, A, Gea, A, Basterra-Gortari, F J, Martinez-Gonzalez, M A, Beunza, J J, Bes-Rastrollo, M
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United States Public Library of Science 20.07.2016; Public Library of Science (PLoS)
• Subjects: Adult; Biology and Life Sciences; Cardiovascular disease; Cardiovascular Diseases - epidemiology; Consumption; Diabetes; Diabetes mellitus; Diabetes mellitus (non-insulin dependent); Diabetes Mellitus, Type 2 - epidemiology; Diabetes Mellitus, Type 2 - etiology; Diagnosis; Diet; Disease prevention; Endocrinology; Fats - metabolism; Female; Food; Health care; Health risk assessment; Health risks; Humans; Hypercholesterolemia - epidemiology; Insulin; Male; Meat; Meat - adverse effects; Medicine and Health Sciences; Metabolic disorders; Middle Aged; Mortality; Nutrition research; Nutritional aspects; Oils & fats; Population; Preventive medicine; Public health; Questionnaires; Risk; Risk Factors; Social Class; Studies; Surveys and Questionnaires; Systematic review; Type 2 diabetes; Mediterranean region; Spain
• ISSN: 1932-6203; 1932-6203
• DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0157990

Meat consumption has been consistently associated with the risk of diabetes in different populations. The aim of our study was to investigate the incidence of type 2 diabetes according to baseline total meat consumption in a longitudinal assessment of a middle-aged Mediterranean population. We followed 18,527 participants (mean age: 38 years, 61% women) in the SUN Project, an open-enrolment cohort of a highly educated population of middle-class Spanish graduate students. All participants were initially free of diabetes. Diet was assessed at baseline using a semi-quantitative food frequency questionnaire of 136-items previously validated. Incident diabetes was defined according to the American Diabetes Association's criteria. We identified 146 incident cases of diabetes after a maximum of 14 years of follow-up period (mean: 8.7 years). In the fully adjusted model, the consumption of ≥3 servings/day of all types of meat was significantly associated with a higher risk of diabetes (HR: 1.85; 95% CI: 1.03-3.31; p for trend = 0.031) in comparison with the reference category (<2 servings/day). When we separated processed from non-processed meat, we observed a non-significant higher risk associated with greater consumption of processed meat and a non-significant lower risk associated with non-processed meat consumption (p for trend = 0.123 and 0.487, respectively). No significant difference was found between the two types of meat (p = 0.594). Our results suggest that meat consumption, especially processed meat, was associated with a higher risk of developing diabetes in our young Mediterranean cohort.