Eating a Diet Rich in Fruit and Vegetables Daily Lowers Diabetes Risk

A large study has found that even small improvement in diet can significantly lower diabetes risk

Fruits and vegetables have a variety of compounds—vitamin C and carotenoids, fiber, potassium, polyphenols, and so on—that the body needs.Shutterstock

Eating about five servings of fruit and vegetables a day is widely promoted as a key part of a healthy diet. This is because consuming fruit and vegetables is linked to lower risk of health problems such as coronary heart disease, stroke, and some types of cancer.

But there’s still confusion about the role that fruit and vegetables have in preventing Type 2 diabetes. Evidence from research has been inconsistent, partly because most studies have relied on participants remembering what they ate—which can be inaccurate. But our latest research found that people who regularly ate more fruit and vegetables in their diet had half the risk of developing Type 2 diabetes compared to those who ate less.