People who were eating 2 homemade meals each day or around 14 meals a week had a 13 % lower chance of getting diabetes as compared to those that ate less than 6 homemade meals a week.
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Researchers claim that your risk of suffering from Type 2 diabetes may drop by a great deal if you stick to food cooked at home.
“We tried to analyze differences in the diet of these people and found, among other differences, that there was a slightly lower intake of sugar-sweetened beverages when people had more homemade meals, which is another bridge linking homemade meals and diabetes in this study”, Zong said.
The new research showed eating homemade meals was associated with less weight gain over eight years in these middle-aged and older health professionals.
The study, which was presented November 8 at the annual American Heart Association meeting held in Orlando, Fla., investigated eating patterns (excluding breakfast) of about 58,000 women from the Nurses’ Health Study and over 41,000 men from the Health Professionals Follow-up Study from 1986 to 2012. The study was presented at the American Heart Association’s Scientific Sessions 2015. In the United Kingdom, more than 2.7 million people are diagnosed with type 2 diabetes whilst a further 750,000 people are believed to have the symptoms but are yet to be diagnosed with the disease.
None of the participants had diabetes, cardiovascular disease or cancer at the beginning of the study.
Professor Etherton adds in a statement: “Eating out is associated with oftentimes eating more calories and eating foods that are higher in salt, sugar and solid fats, whereas eating at home helps control portion size”.
The findings suggest that preparing more meals at home may be a first step in lowering the risk of diabetes, and if home cooking isn’t always possible, “try not to choose fast food”, says Zong. “Keeping a balance between food intake and physical activity remains essential for maintaining body weight and health”.
He continues, “There is growing trend of eating meals prepared out-of-home in many countries”.
The researchers don’t show that any specific homemade meal was healthier than others, Zonszein noted.
“The possibility is that food cooked at home in a less stressful environment can be even a more significant factor than the type of food”, he said.
The team is unable to pinpoint exactly how many homemade meals a person should eat each week based on their findings, but Zong suggests “more could be better”.
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Separate independent researches done in this field also says that regular eating out, especially in fast food chain restaurants, is related with lower diet quality food in taking and higher body weight in children and young adults.
