Does Red Meat Cause Type II Diabetes?
Mark Hyman
Feb 9, 2024
Mindsip insights from this episode:
Understand diet context to halve death risk
In a study of 11,000 health food store shoppers, both vegetarians and healthy meat-eaters had their risk of death reduced by half, suggesting diet context is key.
Utilize Function Health for comprehensive biomarker testing
The service Function Health provides direct-to-consumer testing for over 110 biomarkers, including insulin and lipid particle size, which are often not tested by doctors.
Seek significant risk increases before drawing conclusions
An observational study showing a 20% increased risk is relatively meaningless; you should look for at least a 200% increase before considering it significant.
Preserve traditional diets to prevent diabetes
The Maasai in Africa, who traditionally ate only blood, milk, and meat, had no diabetes until the introduction of Coca-Cola and processed foods.
Critique inflated red meat risk statistics in media headlines
Researchers statistically 'calibrated' the data in a recent study, which doubled the reported risk of red meat, and these inflated numbers were used in media headlines.
Recognize healthy user bias in red meat consumption studies
People who avoid red meat often have other healthy habits like exercising more and not smoking, making it difficult to isolate red meat as the cause of disease.
Critique study for excluding sugar and grains in diabetes analysis
The study linking red meat to diabetes bizarrely excluded grains and sugar from its analysis, ignoring the most established dietary causes of the disease.
Rethink red meat intake based on trial findings
A meta-analysis of higher-quality randomized controlled trials found red meat intake had no significant impact on blood sugar, insulin, or inflammation markers.
Evaluate absolute risk to understand diabetes claims from red meat
A study reported a 62% relative risk increase for diabetes from red meat, but the absolute risk only increased from 0.32% to 0.52%.
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