Eating home cooked meals slashes diabetes risk

OHMYGOSSIP – Dining in cuts diabetes risk! New research from the Harvard School of Public Health conducted a 26 year study tracking the health of nearly 100,000 middle-aged men and women. Those who took part were all diabetes free at the start of the study, and were asked questions on their diet and lifestyle.

By the end of the research 9,000 of the participants had developed diabetes. By looking through the data it was determined that the more meals eaten at home, the lower the risk of developing diabetes was. It was found that eating both lunchtime and evening meals at home had huge health benefits, with home cooked suppers five to seven times a week slashing the diabetes risk by 15 per cent, and eating the majority of lunches at home saw a 9 per cent lowered risk.

Findings have been published in PLOS Medicine. Other notable results include the difference in weight gain between those who dine in and those who choose to eat out, with at home eaters putting on less weight and tending to consume more fruit, vegetables and whole grains. Fewer fizzy beverages are drunk by the people eating at home as well.

Differences between men and women who eat at home were also highlighted, with women exercising more and men chowing down on fry ups more regularly.

“Dining out has become increasingly popular in many countries,” authors said. “Meals prepared out of the home are usually high in energy and fat but low in micronutrients such as calcium, vitamin C and iron.

“From a public health perspective, actions are needed to encourage cooking meals at home, and to improve the quality of meals prepared out of the home, to facilitate diabetes prevention.”

Researcher Geng Zong adds that ordering take away counts as a meal out. It wasn’t determined whether the home cooked food was made fresh, or used pre-made goods like pasta sauces.

 

Photo: ©OHMYGOSSIP

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