Start dining in to keep diabetes at bay as a recent study has revealed that if you eat more meals prepared at home, you may reduce your risk of developing Type 2 diabetes.
According to the research presented at the American Heart Association's Scientific Sessions 2015, people who ate about two homemade lunches or dinners each day had a 13 percent lower risk of developing Type 2 diabetes compared to people who ate less than six homemade lunches or dinners a week. Type 2 diabetes is a major risk factor for heart disease.
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 Geng Zong, Ph.D., a research fellow at Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health in Boston, Massachusetts. "At the same time, Type 2 diabetes rates have also increased."
In the current study, the researchers demonstrated that eating homemade meals was associated with less weight gain over eight years in these middle-aged and older health professionals. Overweight and obesity are risk factors for cardiovascular disease and Type 2 diabetes.
While researchers don't provide a specific number of homemade meals people should eat each week, Zong said "more could be better.
