Bacon for breakfast can boost diabetes risk by 50%, warns study

Published on Wednesday 10 August 2011 15:13

EATING bacon for breakfast every day can increase the risk of developing diabetes by more than 50 per cent, say researchers.

A large-scale study found a "strong association" between the consumption of red meat and Type 2 diabetes.

Specifically, a daily 50 gramme serving of processed meat - equivalent to one sausage or two slices of bacon - was associated with a 51 per cent increase in risk.

Eating twice that amount of unprocessed red meat? led to a 19 per cent greater likelihood of diabetes.

Researchers in the US looked at diabetes rates among more than 37,000 men and two large groups of women together numbering more than 167,000.

They also pooled data from other studies, including a total of 442,101 participants.

The proportions of people developing diabetes over periods of decades were examined in relation to recorded dietary habits.

The findings, published yesterday in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, also showed that replacing red meat with healthier protein from low-fat dairy products, nuts or whole grains significantly lowered the risk of Type 2 diabetes.

Lead researcher Professor Frank Hu, from the Harvard School of Public Health in Boston, said: "Clearly, the results from this study have huge public health implications.

"The good news is that such troubling risk factors can be offset by swapping red meat for a healthier protein."