Objective: This study examined different cooking methods for red meats in relation to type 2 diabetes (T2D) risk among U.S. women who consumed red meats regularly (≥2 servings/week).
Research design and methods: We monitored 59,033 women (1986-2012) aged 30-55 years and free of diabetes, cardiovascular disease, and cancer at baseline when information on frequency of different cooking methods for red meats, including broiling, barbequing, roasting, pan-frying, and stewing/boiling, was collected.
Results: During 1.24 million person-years of follow-up, we documented 6,206 incident cases of T2D. After multivariate adjustment including red meat cooking methods, total red meat and processed red meat intake were both associated with a monotonically increased T2D risk (both P trend <0.05). After multivariate adjustment including total red meat intake, a higher frequency of broiling, barbequing, and roasting red meats was each independently associated with a higher T2D risk. When comparing ≥2 times/week with <1 time/month, the hazard ratios (HRs) and 95% CI of T2D were 1.29 (1.19, 1.40; P trend <0.001) for broiling, 1.23 (1.11, 1.38; P trend <0.001) for barbequing, and 1.11 (1.01, 1.23; P trend = 0.14) for roasting. In contrast, the frequency of stewing/boiling red meats was not associated with T2D risk, and an inverse association was observed for pan-frying frequency and T2D risk. The results remained similar after cooking methods were further mutually adjusted.
Conclusions: Independent of total red meat consumption, high-temperature and/or open-flame cooking methods for red meats, especially broiling and barbequing, may further increase diabetes risk among regular meat eaters.
© 2017 by the American Diabetes Association.