Process Meat Increases the Risk of Diabetes

A Harvard study of more than 40,000 health professionals showed that those who ate
hot dogs, salami, bacon, or sausages two to four time per week increased their risk
of diabetes by 35%.   Those who ate those produces five or more times per week
experienced 50% increased risk.

Refs:  Diabetes Care, March 2002:25(3), Van Dam RM, Willett WC, Rimm EB,
Stampfler MF, Hu FB:  Dietary Fat and Meat Instake in Relation to Rick of
Type 2 Diabetes in Men.  (PCRM Good Medicine Summer 2008, p. 8)

For comprehensive info, check American Dietetic Association web link:    http://eatright.org/cps/rde/xchg/ada/hs.xsl/nutrition_5105_ENU_HTML.htm

In a study of roughly 70,000 women, those we the most red meat ( about one serving per day ) had a 22 percent higher risk of diabetes than those who ate the least ( about one serving per week ):  Arch. Intern, Med 164:2235, 2004

One possible culprit: Ireland, or, more precisely, the heme iron found in animal foods.  "Heme iron is much more readily absorbed, even if you already have enough on board, " explains Dr. Walter Willett, Chairman of Harvard's Health Department.

" we're better at regulating the non-heme iron that we get from plants and other supplements.  "

The sodium nitrite this added to processed meats ( like hotdogs, bacon and lunchmeats ) for color and as a preservative could also play a role.  In a study of 42,000 men, those who ate the most processed meats ( 5 times a week ) had a 46 percent higher risk of diabetes than those who ate the least ( twice a month ).  
From Diabetes Care 25: 417, 2002  -- Excerpts from the Nutrition Action Health Letter, September 2008 published by the Center for Science in the Public Interest , pages 5, 10, 11

Vegetarians are at lower risk for non-insulin-dependent diabetes, partly because they are leaner than non-vegetarians.  The vegetarians' high intake of complex carbohydrates, with its relatively high fiber content, improves carbohydrate metabolism, lowering basal glucose levels.

--- Position of the American Dietetic Association:
          Vegetarian Diets