The charity Diabetes UK has released new figures which indicate that diabetes indirectly kills one person in 10 in England. Diabetes causes strokes, heart attacks and kidney failure. Douglas Smallwood, chief executive of Diabetes UK, said “there are 2.3 million people diagnosed with diabetes and over half a million don’t know they have it.”

Type 2 diabetes, which is associated with unhealthy diets and lifestyles, may account for as much as 95% of all diagnosed cases of diabetes. The recent increase in childhood diabetes is thought to be linked to the increase in obesity in children and many medical professionals fear an epidemic of childhood type 2 diabetes is on the horizon.

Red meat consumption has also been shown to be an independent risk factor in the onset of type 2 diabetes. According to research published earlier this year by the University of Minnesota, there is a strong link between red meat and diabetes. The scientists recommend that servings of red meat are strictly limited to just two per week. Eating more than this leads to greater levels of metabolic syndrome, also known as pre-diabetes. Other studies have reached the same conclusion. In 2004, researchers studied 37,309 women for nearly 9 years and ‘found that a higher consumption of red meat, especially total processed meat, was associated with an increased risk of developing type 2 diabetes in middle-aged and older U.S. women’.

Fast food chains invest millions in advertising campaigns to target children and they must be held accountable for the damage they are causing to children’s health. It has long been known that consumption of red meat, which is high in saturated fats, leads to heart disease and some forms of cancer, but now we have sufficient proof that it also leads to diabetes. Help your children live a long and happy life by establishing healthy eating habits whilst they are still at home; and that means lots of plant-based foods, which are vitamin and mineral rich, naturally very low in unhealthy saturated fats, have plenty of fibre and high levels of anti-oxidants, which fight disease.

The health section of the Observer magazine today offers advice from a nutritionist, chef and supplements expert to a mother worried about her 17 year old son becoming vegan.

The responses were helpful and positive but there are a few other facts that would have put this mother’s mind at ease.

Foods from animal sources are high in saturated fat, which clogs arteries and can lead to high blood pressure, heart disease and stroke. Obesity is another problem caused by excess fat in the diet, and as the UK Department of Health advises on it’s website, obesity causes around 58% of type 2 diabetes, 21% of heart disease and between 8% and 42% of certain cancers (endometrial, breast, and colon).

With over 21% of the UK population classified as obese, this mother should be thrilled her son is very unlikely to become one of them, especially at this most important time in his life. Vegans are seldom over weight - population studies show that meat-eaters have three times the obesity rate of vegetarians and nine times the obesity rate of vegans.

The experts also fail to mention all the many ‘meat substitutes’ on the market these days. Everything from vegan mince for spaghetti bolognese, lasagne and chillis, to vegan ice-cream in all kinds of yummy flavours, to fish-free fish fingers, dairy-free cheese and meat-less sausages. Redwood Foods are stocked in most health shops and make a vegan diet both easy and delicious.

As his fellow students grow fat, spotty and sluggish, tucking in to typical student food like McDonalds and KFC, this 17 year old will be bright and healthy and getting in to good habits to ensure a long, disease-free life. And what’s more, what mother could be more proud of a son who is providing a good example to other (often selfish) teenagers by putting his energy in to living with compassion?

Observer article
Obesity ‘as bad as climate risk’ BBC article

I don´t mean to focus so much on the negative impacts of meat on our health, but there are just so many studies at the moment and I can´t ignore them! We know that red meat increases our risk of certain cancers and heart disease but this is the first time I´ve heard about red meat causing diabetes…