THURSDAY June 26, 2008 (foodconsumer.org) -- Eating lots of green leafy vegetables daily may help reduce risk of developing diabetes, according to a study published on April 4, 2008 in the Diabetes Care Publish Ahead of print.

The study by Lydia A. Bazzano and colleagues from Tulane University and other organizations showed the every additional serving of green leafy vegetables a day was associated with a 9 percent reduction in diabetes risk.

The study also found three servings a day of whole fruit consumption was also associated with an 18 percent reduction.

However, an increase of 3 servings per day in total fruit and vegetable consumption however was not linked with development of diabetes.

Bad news is that fruit juice consumption was found associated with an 18 percent increase in the risk of diabetes.

The study involved a total of 71,346 female nurses ages 38 to 63 years who were free from cardiovascular disease, cancer and diabetes in 1984.

For the study, the researchers followed the participants for a period of 18 years and their dietary habits were surveyed every 4 years.

During the follow-up, 4,529 cases of diabetes were diagnosed and recorded.   The cumulative incidence of diabetes in the study population was 7.4 percent.

The researchers concluded "Consumption of green leafy vegetables and fruit was associated with a lower hazard of DM, whereas consumption of fruit juices may be associated with an increased hazard among women."

Diabetes afflicts an estimated 24 million people in the United States.

A recent study has suggested that pure fructose consumption may boost risk of diabetes because it was associated with increased insulin resistance, which might explain why consumption of fruit juice, high in fructose, was associated with a higher risk of diabetes.

The current study was not a trial, meaning that the causal relationship between consumption of fruit and vegetables and risk of diabetes was not established.

A scientist affiliated with foodconsumer.org suggested that people should not count on using some foods to prevent diabetes. Instead, they need to avoid certain foods to prevent diabetes.

For one thing, it has been already clear that trans fat as well as saturated fat may be implicated in the development of diabetes.