Fruits Can Reduce Diabetic Risk
About Diabetes & Eye Problems
Lifestyle choices such as what you eat can have a meaningful impact on your overall health. According to the Centers for Disease Control diabetes affects more than 26 million people or over 8% of the U.S. population-a number that is growing annually with no end in sight. Seniors are particularly affected with almost 11 million or 27% of U.S. residents aged 65 years and older having diabetes. Diabetes is a major risk factor for cataract, glaucoma and diabetic retinopathy, which is the most severe of these three eye diseases and affects approximately 7.7 million Americans. More than 4 million, over 28% of people with diabetes aged 40 years or older had diabetic retinopathy, and of these, some 650-700,000 or almost 4% of all diabetics have advanced diabetic retinopathy that can result in severe vision loss. Diabetic eye disease continues to be the leading cause of new cases of blindness among adults 20 to 74 years of age.
Eat Fruit to Reduce Your Risk of Diabetes
According the reports from the Harvard School of Public Health eating certain whole fruits may reduce the risk for Type 2 diabetes, even though fruit juice consumption may increase the risk for diabetes. Investigators combined data from 3 studies: the Nurses' Health Study of more than 66,000 patients, the Nurses' Health Study II of more than 85,000 patients and the Health Professionals Follow-Up Study with over 36,000 patients. The participants in all 3 studies completed questionnaires assessing health and lifestyle factors, including diet, every 2 years.
The researchers excluded participants with a baseline diagnosis of diabetes, cardiovascular disease, or cancer, as well as those who had missing data for fruit or fruit juice consumption or an extremely high or low caloric intake, and those who had an unclear date of diabetes diagnosis.
The analysis was adjusted for personal, lifestyle, and dietary risk factors for diabetes. The researchers concluded that every 3 servings of fruit per week were associated with a lower risk for Type 2 diabetes. When the researchers looked at individual types of fruit in a multivariate analysis, adjusted for the same factors, they found that 3 servings per week of some fruits were more closely associated with reduced risk of diabetes especially blueberries, grapes and apples.
If you or someone you know has questions or concerns about diabetes or diabetic eye disease or problems, please call Doctor & Associates-203-227-4113, visit Doctor & Associates in Fairfield County, Google+ or facebook.com/doctorandassociates to schedule an appointment.
Doctor & Associates offices are located at 129 Kings Highway North, Westport, Connecticut 06880, 195 Danbury Road, Wilton, Connecticut 06897 and 148 East Avenue, Norwalk, Connecticut 06851.
