Researchers at Harvard University in the United States announced that consuming a lot of heme iron, which is contained in red meat such as beef and pork, increases the risk of type 2 diabetes by 26%.
Researchers have uncovered a significant link between heme iron, found in red meat and other animal foods, and type 2 diabetes (T2D) risk, and the metabolic pathways that underlie the link. Nonheme iron (iron found in plant foods) was not associated with T2D risk.
There are two types of iron: heme iron and non-heme iron. Heme iron is mainly found in animal foods such as red meat, and non-heme iron is found in plant foods such as spinach, kidney beans, and nuts. Heme iron is better absorbed by the body than non-heme iron.
The study suggests that reducing heme iron intake from red meat and increasing plant-based foods may help reduce diabetes risk. It also raises concerns about the addition of heme to increasingly popular plant-based meat substitutes.
A new study led by researchers at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health found that higher intakes of heme iron—an iron type found in red meat and other animal foods, as opposed to nonheme iron, which is found primarily in plant foods—were associated with a higher risk of developing type 2 diabetes. The link between heme iron and type 2 diabetes has been reported before, but the new study provides more clarity and explanation for the link.
“Unlike previous studies that relied solely on epidemiological data, we integrated multiple layers of information, including epidemiological data, conventional metabolic biomarkers, and cutting-edge metabolomics,” said Dr. Fenglei Wang, a researcher in the Department of Nutrition and the first author of the paper published in the scientific journal Nature Metabolism on the 13th (local time). “This allowed us to gain a more comprehensive understanding of not only the association between iron intake and T2D risk, but also the potential metabolic pathways underlying this association.”
According to SciTechDaily, a U.S. science media outlet, Harvard University researchers evaluated the link between iron and T2D using 36 years of dietary reports from 206,615 U.S. adults enrolled in the Nurses’ Health Studies and Health Professionals Follow-up Study.
As a result, the group that consumed the most heme iron had a 26% higher risk of developing TD2 than the group that consumed the least. The researchers also found that heme iron accounted for more than half of the risk of type 2 diabetes associated with unprocessed red meat and an intermediate proportion of the risk among the various dietary patterns associated with type 2 diabetes.
Consistent with previous studies, we did not find a significant association between non-heme iron intake through diet or supplements and the risk of T2D.
In addition, it was confirmed that higher intake of heme iron increased the levels of metabolic biomarkers such as C-peptide, neutral fat, C-reactive protein, and leptin, and lowered the levels of beneficial biomarkers such as HDL cholesterol and adiponectin.
The researchers emphasized that the results of this study have important implications for establishing dietary guidelines and public health strategies to reduce the incidence of diabetes. Reducing the intake of red meat containing heme iron and adopting a plant-based diet can significantly reduce the risk of type 2 diabetes.
In particular, the study findings also raise concerns about adding heme to plant-based meat substitutes to enhance the flavor and appearance of meat.
“Reducing heme iron intake from red meat and adopting a plant-based diet could be an effective strategy to lower diabetes risk,” said corresponding author Frank Hu, professor of nutrition and epidemiology.
Reporter Park Hae-sik, Donga.com [email protected]
-
- great
- 0dog
-
- I’m sad
- 0dog
-
- I’m angry
- 0dog
-
- I recommend it
- dog
Hot news right now
2024-08-20 01:34:50