Skip to main content

Blueberries may ward off Type 2 diabetes

WASHINGTON – Blueberry lovers have hit the jackpot.

The New York Times reports the tiny berries do more to reduce the risk of Type 2 diabetes than many other fruits.

Eating one to three servings a month decreases the risk by about 11 percent, according to the research group BMJ, which used data from three larger studies. Five servings a week cuts the risk by nearly 30 percent, according to the research.

Grapes, apples and grapefruit help reduce the risk, too, according to the research.

However, strawberries, oranges, peaches, plums and apricots do very little, researchers found.

But across the board, substituting juice for whole fruits increases the risk for Type 2 diabetes.

“Increasing whole fruit consumption, especially blueberries, apples and grapes, is important,” Dr. Qi Sun, an assistant professor of medicine at Harvard and the senior author of the study, told the New York Times.

“But I don’t want to leave the impression that fruit is magic. An overall healthy lifestyle is essential too.”

WTOP’s Veronica Robinson contributed to this report. Follow @VRobWTOP, @WTOP and @WTOPliving on Twitter.

Emergency guide: What you should do to prepare for emergencies

WASHINGTON — Do you know what you'd do if an emergency hits? What if you're at work, your spouse is stuck in traffic and your children are in school? There's no way to plan for every emergency, but you can make sure you're prepared for different scenarios, including making a plan for your family and building a kit of emergency supplies.
Read Next Story