An enormous study on fruit eating amongst the populace in the USA has reinforced views that eating more fruit can help reduce the chances of developing type-2 diabetes. More intriguingly, there were particular fruits that were identified in the study such as grapes, apples and blueberries in particular as being especially good at reducing the risk.
The study looked at 187,000 people in the USA in three long-term studies, and all nurses and health professionals, and asked them to record over a number of years the fruit being eaten and whether they developed type-2 diabetes or not. Of this number, 6.5% went on to develop the condition.
Diabetes is a major health problem because blood sugar levels cannot be controlled with the action of insulin. In this instance, diabetics develop a resistance to insulin because they either don’t produce it or the body’s cells cannot respond to it.
The methodology relied on food frequency questionnaires and followed up the participants every four years. It’s worth noting that respondents very often record the most notable fruit but it appears from the studies such as grapes and raisins eaten three times a week had the greatest significance on diabetes reduction.
Understanding what is present in fruit creates a great deal of interest. Fruits contain high levels of antioxidants and other phytochemicals, especially anthocyanins and polyphenols which are noted to improve uptake of sugar such as glucose in mice models. The study also looked at combinations of fruit, making the general point that eating whole fruit was better than just drinking fruit juice.
Whilst the impact of drinking fruit juice was not as positive, the general view is that eating a balanced diet with plenty of whole fruit and vegetables included is still the most beneficial for overall health. There is still plenty of research needed to understand whether it is whole fruit or processed fruit which is more beneficial. Processing would improve absorption of fruit sugars by making it more readily available.
Muraki, I.M., Imamura, F., Manson, J.E., Hu, F.B., Willet, W.C., Van Dam, R.M., Sun, Q. (2013) Fruit consumption and risk of type 2 diabetes: results from three prospective longitudinal cohort studies. BMJ 2013;347:f5001 doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.1136/bmj.f5001(Published 29 August 2013)
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