Most of us know that eating fruit is a healthy choice for snacks and a well-rounded diet. But did you know that not all fruits are equal?
New research shows that you can significantly reduce your risk for Type II Diabetes by eating a greater variety of fruits, that some fruits are more helpful than others, and that drinking fruit juice does not carry the benefits of eating fruit. Instead, drinking fruit juice actually increased the risk of developing the disease.
A recent study at Harvard University of more than 185,000 individuals over 12 years found that those who developed Type II Diabetes tended to eat different fruits from those who did not develop the disease.
The researchers concluded that blueberries, grapes, apples and grapefruit significantly reduced the risk of developing Type II Diabetes. In fact, eating 1-3 servings of blueberries a month reduced the risk by about 11 percent, and 5 servings a week reduced the risk by 26 percent.
The researchers concluded that strawberries, oranges, peaches, plums and apricots did not significantly reduce the risk of developing Type II Diabetes.
Of course, the researchers note that fruit does not provide total prevention, and that all of us should make as many healthy choices for diet and exercise as possible to help prevent Type II Diabetes as well as many other diseases.