- Researchers say you can lower your risk of type 2 diabetes by eating two servings of fruit per day.
- They say people who eat fruit can lower their blood glucose levels without producing as much insulin.
- They noted that fruit juice doesn’t produce as many benefits as consuming whole fruits.
Eating at least two servings of fruit every day has been linked to a lower risk of developing type 2 diabetes.
Researchers at Edith Cowan University (ECU) in Western Australia said they found that study participants who ate two servings of fruit daily had a 36 percent lower chance of developing type 2 diabetes.
“We found an association between fruit intake and markers of insulin sensitivity, suggesting that people who consumed more fruit had to produce less insulin to lower their blood glucose levels,” Nicola Bondonno, PhD, lead author of the study and researcher at the ECU’s Institute for Nutrition Research, said in a press release.
“This is important because high levels of circulating insulin (hyperinsulinemia) can damage blood vessels and are related not only to diabetes, but also to high blood pressure, obesity, and heart disease,” she added.
In undertaking the research, Bondonno and colleagues analyzed data from 7,675 Australians who participated in the Baker Heart and Diabetes Institute’s AusDiab Study to assess intake of fruit and fruit juice and the rate of diabetes after 5 years.
The researchers reported that the participants who had high intake of fruit had better measures for both glucose tolerance and insulin sensitivity.
Compared with participants who had the lowest intake of fruit, those with a moderate fruit intake had a lower risk of developing diabetes after 5 years.
Source: healthline