Processed Meat and Diabetes

A new study published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition links processed meats to higher risk of diabetes in Native Americans. The study, which surveyed the diets and health of more than 2,000 Native Americans, determined that the subjects were more likely to develop diabetes within five years if their diets were rich in processed meat, especially Spam. According to the study, 50 percent of Native Americans develop diabetes by the age of 55, a phenomenon the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine attributes to the population’s limited access to healthy foods, and its dependence on the meat-centric US Department of Agriculture commodity program.