A new cohort study published on June 2 in the Journal of Clinical Endocrinology and Metabolism supports the recommendation of eating two servings of fruit a day for health benefits − in this case, the risk of diabetes is reduced. Adults, who ate two servings of fruit per day, had a 36% lower risk of developing diabetes over 5 years, compared with those, who ate less than half a serving of fruit per day.
These results are based on data from the Australian Study on Diabetes, Obesity and Lifestyle (AusDiab). A total of 7675 adults aged 25 and older without diabetes who had undergone blood tests and completed a food frequency questionnaire in 1999-2000 were enrolled. Researchers divided participants into quartiles based on their median fruit consumption: 62 (range 0-95) g/day, 122 (95-162) g/day, 230 (162-283) g/day, and 372 (283-961) g/day. The most commonly consumed fruit was apples (23% of total fruit intake), followed by bananas (20%) and citrus fruit (18%).
Of 4674 participants who had 5-year follow-up, 179 participants developed diabetes. Compared to participants with a low fruit intake (quartile 1), those with a moderate fruit intake (quartile 3) had a 36% lower odds of developing diabetes within 5 years (odds ratio, 0.64; 95% CI, 0.44-0.92) after adjusting for age, sex, physical activity, education, socioeconomic status, income, body mass index, smoking, cardiovascular disease, parental history of diabetes, and consumption of alcohol, vegetables, red meat, processed meat, and calories.
The study also showed that a higher fruit intake was associated with higher insulin sensitivity and lower pancreatic beta-cell function in a dose-response manner. And a higher intake of apples — but not citrus fruit or bananas, the two other fruits studied — was associated with lower post-load serum insulin levels. However, fruit juice was not associated with better glucose or insulin levels, or lower risk of diabetes, possibly because of its relatively high glycemic load and fewer beneficial fibers.
Reference:
https://academic.oup.com/jcem/advance-article/doi/10.1210/clinem/dgab335/6290732
