Sugar Found in Red Meat Linked to Higher Diabetes Risk in Preliminary Findings

Preliminary findings suggest that excessive consumption of a sugar commonly found in red meat may be associated with a higher risk of developing diabetes.

The sugar, known as dietary N-glycolylneuraminic acid, was linked to a 63% increase in diabetes risk, according to the brief account of the findings.

The reported association concerns excessive intake of this particular sugar. It does not establish that eating red meat, or consuming the sugar itself, directly causes diabetes.

The summary did not provide details on the study’s participants, methods or the amount of consumption considered excessive. It also did not specify which type of diabetes was examined.

Those gaps, along with the preliminary nature of the results, limit the conclusions that can be drawn about what the findings mean for individual diets.