An apple a day keeps the diabetes away? A new study released in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition has found that apples and pears, as well as blueberries, are fruits particularly associated with a lower risk of Type 2 diabetes.
The study looked at the diets of more than 200,000 people, and was originally created to determine whether flavonoid subclasses (which include flavonols, flavones, flavanones, flavan-3-ols, and anthocyanins) had any effect on the incidence of diabetes. The subjects filled out questionnaires about their eating habits.
While no significant findings came from the flavanoids, anthocyanin and anthocyanin-rich fruits -- like blueberries, apples and pears -- were found to have a correlation with a lower incidence of diabetes in more than 12,600 cases.
As nutritionist Leslie Beck wrote in her blog:
Those who consumed the most blueberries had a 23 percent lower risk of developing type 2 diabetes compared with those who ate no blueberries. People who ate five or more apples a week also had a 23 percent lower risk compared with those who didn't eat apples. These results were found after accounting for other risk factors, such as body weight, cigarette smoking and a family history of diabetes.
Diabetes is one of the greatest health risks currently facing the world, with organizations projecting numbers as high as 550 million people affected by the year 2030.
SEE: The many health benefits of apples: