Eating apples, blueberries, and grapes is good for your health and they lower the chances of being affected by diabetes. However, according to the latest studies, having fruit juice can actually increase your chances of being affected by the illness.

The Study

The study conducted by the Harvard School of Public Health was aimed at studying the effects of eating whole fruits on people who have type 2 diabetes. While other studies haven’t reached conclusive results, this study showed that consuming some fruits might especially lower the risk of developing diabetes.

Statistics

In 2011 there were 25.8 million people in the U.S.A. affected by diabetes, the majority having type 2 diabetes. There are another 79 million people who have pre-diabetes and many of them don’t even know about it. Type 2 diabetes means that the body doesn’t produce enough insulin to break down sugar or the insulin is ignored by the cells. In the long run, diabetes can damage the heart, liver, eyes, and nerves.

The Process

187,000 people participated in the study from several countries to find out which fruits can be connected to diabetes. Health professionals and nurses had to fill out questionnaires regarding their nutrition and their health over the course of 25 years. 12,000 of these people have developed diabetes.

The Results

According to the results of the study, the people who had at least 2 servings of whole fruits per month had lower chances of being affected by type 2 diabetes than the people who had less than one serving. Eating enough fruit appeared to lower chances of diabetes by up to 23%.

Fruit Juice

It is surprising to know that the people who had fruit juice each day had 21% higher chances of develop the condition than the people who had whole fruits. Having a fruit instead of every 3 glasses of juice lowered the chances of diabetes by 7%.

Diabetes Prevention

This study proves the importance of whole fruits in preventing diabetes. However, it also shows that fruit juice cannot take the place of whole fruits. The specialists studied several fruits, including grapes, plums, peaches, prunes, cantaloupe, bananas, pears, apples, grapefruit, oranges, blueberries, and strawberries. The specialists say that juice may not be good for the body because of its high glycemic index. This means that the carbohydrates increase the blood sugar levels very fast.