Eating fresh fruit may reduce the risk for developing diabetes, and the risk for its complications, a study has found. However, experts and people with diabetes doubt if high sugar content in fresh fruits could pose risks.
The study, in PLoS Medicine, tracked diet and health in 512,891 Chinese men and women ages 30 to 79 for an average of seven years, controlling for smoking, alcohol intake, blood pressure and other factors.
Among those without diabetes at the start, eating fresh fruit daily was associated with a 12 percent lower risk of developing the disease compared with those who ate none. The more frequently they ate fruit, the lower their risk.
In people who were already diabetic, those who ate fruit three times a week had a 17 percent lower risk of all-cause mortality, and a lower risk for diabetic complications.The study was observational and the reason for the effect remains unclear.
