A recent study published in Nature Medicine pinpointed seven specific foods that are linked to a poor diet, causing millions of cases of type 2 diabetes. Roughly one in 10 Americans already have “incurable diabetes,” marking it as the seventh leading cause of death in the country—the disease is on the trajectory to rise by 700 percent in young Americans.
Type 2 diabetes occurs when the pancreas fails to produce enough insulin to combat and regulate sugar and carbohydrate consumption, leading to heightened levels of glucose in the bloodstream.
Commonly labeled health foods such as rice, wheat, potatoes, and fruit juices were some of the primary culprits cited in the study. Unsurprisingly, additional sugary beverages such as soda were on the list of possible causes of the disease. Other dietary patterns are thought to contribute to the affliction such as insufficient amounts of non-starchy vegetables, nuts, and seeds.
Surprisingly, red meat was grouped into the seven foods that are associated with diabetes, however, this could be a case of correlation not equaling causation. The only foods that raise blood sugar fall in the carbohydrate category—this does not include fare that consists only of protein and fat like red meat. Carbohydrate foods are assigned a Glycemic Index (GI) ranking which measures them against sugar, sugar being the benchmark with a GI ranking of 100. For example, boiled white rice has a ranking of 73 while boiled brown rice comes in at 68, so while brown rice will technically convert to less sugar than white, it’s still fairly high-glycemic.
Red meat does not contain carbohydrates so therefore, it’s not assigned a GI ranking, so why is the zero-carb food associated with type 2 diabetes if it cannot raise your blood sugar? There are two theories—first, one who eats a lot of high-carb foods such as potatoes, rice, and pasta might be a “meat and potatoes” person so they consume red meat on a regular basis. However, it’s not the red meat that is causing the rise in blood sugar which puts people at risk for diabetes. Moreover, one who consumes fast food on a regular basis could be eating multiple cheeseburgers per week—is the burger meat causing the insulin spike? Probably not—it’s more likely due to the bun, French fries, and soda.
The other possibility is the fact that doctors correlate increased levels of abdominal fat with greater risks for diabetes. Because doctors have linked being overweight and obese with a heightened risk for insulin resistance, the supposed hypothesis is the saturated fat found in meats could contribute to diabetes risk. This is a prime example of “correlation is not causation.”
The Nature Medicine study named the following seven foods associated with type 2 diabetes risk: rice, wheat, potatoes, fruit juice, other sugar-sweetened beverages such as soda, red meat, and processed meats. While processed meats certainly aren’t the healthiest of choices, they, like red meat are not likely to cause a significant spike in blood sugar due to low carbohydrate counts.
Rice, wheat, potatoes, fruit juice, and other sugar-sweetened beverages are proven to have higher GI rankings which cause increased blood sugar levels, possibly leading to type 2 diabetes. The latter two—red meat and processed meats—probably need more conclusive evidence to come to solid diabetes-causing conclusions.
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