020305 Eating Processed Meats Ups Diabetes Risk in Men

New York - Eating a diet high in processed meats such as hot dogs, bacon, salami or sausage may substantially increase a man's risk of developing type 2 diabetes, according to the results of a large US study.

The good news is that diets rich in whole grains, fruits and vegetables, fish and poultry may offer some protection against the disease, researchers report in March the issue of Diabetes Care.

Experts have repeatedly warned Americans about the health risks associated with so-called Western diets--eating food high in animal fat and low in fruits and vegetables. But this is the first large study to look at the relationship between consumption of processed meats and diabetes, according to lead investigator Dr. Frank B. Hu of Harvard School of Public Health in Boston, Massachusetts, and his colleagues.

Type 2 diabetes is a metabolic disorder in which the body can no longer properly use insulin, a pancreatic hormone that helps shuttle the glucose (sugar) in food from the blood and into cells to be used as energy. The condition is closely related to obesity.

In the current study, researchers at Harvard and the National Institute for Public Health and the Environment in the Netherlands found that eating processed meat five or more times per week increased a man's risk of developing type 2 diabetes by nearly 50%.

The investigators base their conclusions on data from a long-running study of male health professionals in the US, who were between the ages of 40 and 75 at the study's outset. Hu's team tracked dietary habits and new diagnoses of type 2 diabetes among 42,504 men between 1986 and 1998.

"We found that frequent consumption of processed meats such as bacon or hot dogs is associated with increased risk of type 2 diabetes in men," said Hu.

"Those who ate processed meats two to four times per week had 35% increased risk and those (who ate processed meats) five times or more had almost 50% increased risk of diabetes," he said.

In contrast, a diet rich in linoleic acid--a polyunsaturated fat found in large amounts in foods from plants including safflower, sunflower, corn and soybean oil--offered modest protection against the disease, the report indicates.

Over the study period, about 1,300 men developed type 2 diabetes. Leaner, younger men with the highest intakes of linoleic acid-rich foods were 26% less likely than men with the lowest intakes to be diagnosed with the disease.

"In order to prevent type 2 diabetes, it is prudent to limit consumption of processed meats," Hu cautions.

Nevertheless, more studies are needed to investigate the reasons why higher consumption of processed meats increase the risk of developing type 2 diabetes, he said.

"Since the American Diabetes Association (ADA) recommends a low-fat diet for all people with diabetes, the use of high-fat foods--of all types, which would include foods such as bacon, sausages and hot dogs--should be limited to one to three servings per week," said Anne Daly of the ADA in a prepared statement.

"This study indicates that processed meats should be limited to even more occasional use, such as once a month," she added.

SOURCE: Diabetes Care 2002;25:417-424

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