New study analyzed diets of almost 100,000 people.
By Raif Karerat
A newly released study has revealed that home cooking decreases a person’s risk of developing type 2 diabetes.
“The trend for eating commercially prepared meals in restaurants or as take-out in the United States has increased significantly over the last 50 years,” said the study’s co-author Geng Zong, a research fellow at Harvard, in a press release. “At the same time, type 2 diabetes rates have also increased.”
For the study, which was presented Nov. 8 at the annual American Heart Association meeting held in Orlando, Fla., Zong and his team analyzed the diets of 58,000 women and 41, 000 men, all of who were tracked for 36 years between 1986 and 2012.
The researchers found that those who ate home cooked lunches and dinners, which comprised about 11 to 14 of their total meals in a week, reduced their risk of developing type 2 diabetes by 13 percent compared to those who ate less than six home cooked lunches or dinners each week.
The researchers also observed that those who ate at home were leaner compared to those who ate out frequently.
Since the study was not able to provide a cause-and-effect relationship between eating home cooked meals as opposed to eating out and the onset of diabetes, Zong said that additional studies will be needed.
“Most important of all, even if meals prepared at home may have better diet quality, it does not mean people can eat without limits in amounts,” Zong told HealthDay. Keeping a balance between food intake and physical activity remains essential for maintaining body weight and health.”
1 Comment
Forget it. Yu