Health and Fitness

Research has linked the consumption of unprocessed as well as processed red meat to diabetes. Increasing your intake of red meat over timed has been associated with a higher risk of developing Type 2 Diabetes. Red meat is typically high in calories and fat and experts say for this reason these factors create the link between heavy red meat eaters and diabetes.

The controversial farm bill that cleared the House Thursday divided Texas representatives firmly along party lines. All Texas Republicans voted for the bill, which left out nutrition programs for the first time in decades, after a massive fight over food stamp funding in the House last month.

Democratic members of Congress took part in theCongressional SNAP challenge, living on the $4.50 per day allotted to Americans who receive SNAP, or food stamps. Two freshman members of the Texas delegation -- Beto O'Rourke (TX-16, El Paso) and Marc Veasey (TX-33, Dallas-Fort Worth) -- participated in the challenge.

Should Congress cut SNAP benefits in the Farm Bill to give huge breaks to agri-business and corporate farms, Texans will be particularly hard hit. According to the Texas Food Bank Network, 171,000 Texans would be kicked off SNAP immediately.

The House farm bill, which aimed to cut $20 billion from the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), or food-stamp program, has prompted Republican staffer Donny Ferguson to experiment with and prove firsthand that the proposed budget cuts are not only reasonable but actually quite generous. However, while this may be good policy today, it could very well lead to more harm than good in the long run.