The food we eat is one of the most significant factors associated with whether we develop type 2 diabetes.

High blood sugar levels cause disability and death

High blood sugar levels are a sign and a consequence of type 2 diabetes and cause:

• Coronary artery disease, manifesting as angina, heart attack, heart failure, arrhythmias, and sudden death.
• Cerebrovascular disease, resulting in various types of stroke and dementia.
• Peripheral vascular disease, causing leg pain and cramping on exercise, impaired wound healing and infections, ulceration, gangrene, and amputation.
• Retinopathy, resulting in a variety of visual disorders and blindness.
• Nephropathy affecting the kidneys, resulting in loss of protein from the body (causing fluid retention and ankle swelling), high blood pressure, impaired kidney function, and kidney failure.
• Neuropathy affecting the nerves, resulting in a variety of abnormal sensations and loss of sensation in the feet, legs, hands and arms, foot ulceration, infections, constipation, diarrhea, urinary problems, fluctuating heart rate and blood pressure.

Foods that increase the risk of type 2 diabetes

Ultra-processed foods (UPFs)

• The risk of type 2 diabetes is increased by around 50% by a high intake of UPFs or red meat.
• Ultra-processed foods are produced by industrial processes from ingredients that are not necessarily recognisable foods. They are usually high in saturated fat, sugar, and salt, low in fiber and nutrients, and contain additives such as emulsifiers and flavor enhancers not typically used in a home kitchen. They include ready-made bread, pizza, crisps, pastries, cookies and cakes, fast foods, snacks, many breakfast cereals, soda and sports drinks, processed meats, instant foods, candies, sweets and ice cream.
• National surveys show that UPFs contribute approximately half of total calorie intake in high-income countries such as the US, UK, many European countries, Canada and Australia. In 2025, the US National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) data reported for August 2021–August 2023 UPFs provided 62% and 53% of calories consumed by young people aged 1–18 years and people aged 19 years and older, respectively. People eat UPFs because they are cheap, taste good, have a long shelf life and require little preparation.
• Over the past 20 years, studies have shown that a high intake of UPFs increases the risk of type 2 diabetes by around 50%:
• In 2008, high consumption of low-calorie soft drinks, sugar-sweetened beverages, burgers and sausages, crisps, snacks, and white bread and low consumption of medium- and high-fiber breakfast cereals and wholemeal bread among 7339 civil servants in the UK Whitehall II study significantly increased the risk of type 2 diabetes. Higher intake increased the risk. People in the top quartile for this diet had a 51% higher risk of type 2 diabetes.
• In 2020, a 6-year follow-up study of 104,707 participants in the French NutriNet-Sante Prospective Cohort reported a 15% higher risk of type 2 diabetes for every 10% increase in UPF and a 5% higher risk per 100g/day increase in UPF.
• In 2021, a 12-year follow-up study of 20,060 participants in the Spanish SUN project reported a 53% higher risk of type 2 diabetes for those in the highest tertile of UPF consumption compared with participants in the lowest tertile, with a significant dose-response relationship.
• In 2021, a 5.4-year follow-up study of 21,730 participants of the UK Biobank (2007–2019) reported that those in the highest quartile of UPF consumption had a 44% higher risk of type 2 diabetes compared with participants in the lowest quartile, with a significant 12% higher risk for every 10% increase in UPF  consumption.
• In 2022, a systematic review and meta-analysis of 18 studies including over 1 million people reported that compared with people who do not consume UPFs, those who consume a moderate- or high-UPF diet have a 12% and 31% increased risk of type 2 diabetes, respectively.
• In 2022, a 3.4-year follow-up study of 70,421 participants of the Dutch Biobank reported a 10% increase in UPF consumption was associated with a 25% higher risk of type 2 diabetes and four different habitual UPF consumption patterns. A pattern high in cold savory snacks and a pattern high in warm savory snacks were associated with an increased risk of type 2 diabetes; a pattern high in traditional Dutch cuisine was not associated with type 2 diabetes incidence and a pattern high in sweet snacks and pastries was associated with a lower risk of type 2 diabetes. The authors conclude that there is a need to further clarify how different UPF consumption patterns are related to type 2 diabetes.
• In 2024, a combined analysis of seven cohorts showed the risk of type 2 diabetes was 12% higher for every 10% increase in UPF consumption.
• In 2025, a dose-response meta-analysis of 12 prospective cohort studies reported that participants with the highest UPF consumption had a 48% higher risk of type 2 diabetes than participants with the lowest intake, with a 14% increased risk for every 10% increase in UPF consumption.
• In 2025, a systematic review and updated meta-analysis of 14 studies with nearly 700,000 participants reported that compared with people with the lowest intake of UPFs, those with the highest intake had a 24% increased risk of type 2 diabetes, with a 13% increased risk for every 10% increase in UPF consumption. In addition, data from four studies suggested that high UPF consumption may be associated with the complications of type 2 diabetes.

Unprocessed and processed red meat

• A study of 216,695 participants (81% females) from the Nurses’ Health Study (NHS), NHS II, and Health Professionals Follow-up Study providing nearly 5.5 million person-years of follow-up reported that total, processed, and unprocessed red meat intakes were positively and approximately linearly associated with higher risks of type 2 diabetes. Comparing the highest to the lowest quintiles, total red meat, processed red meat, and unprocessed red meat increased the risk of type 2 diabetes by 62%, 51%, and 40%.
• A huge global study of data of nearly 2 million adults in 31 cohorts confirmed that meat, particularly processed meat and unprocessed red meat, increases the risk of type 2 diabetes across populations. Greater consumption was associated with an increased incidence of type 2 diabetes, with an increased risk of 10% for every 100g/day of unprocessed red meat and 15% for every 50g/day of processed meat.

Avoid UPFs and restrict red meat to less than two servings/week

• Widespread consumption of UPFs, including processed meat, is playing a key role in the global tsunami of ill-health and disability, overwhelming health services financially and logistically.
• Dietary modification is the cornerstone in preventing type 2 diabetes. A healthy UPF-free, low-saturated fat, high-fiber, nutrient-dense diet such as the Mediterranean diet or a healthy plant-based diet can improve insulin sensitivity.