WEDNESDAY July 16, 2008 (foodconsumer.org) -- When it comes to type 2 diabetes, whole fruit and fruit juice do not have equal effects.  A study suggests that fruit juice may increase risk of type 2 diabetes in women while whole fruit has an opposite effect.

The study showed that eating an additional three servings of whole fruit each day was linked to a lower risk of developing diabetes. Eating one additional serving of spinach, kale or similar green leafy vegetables was also tied to a lower risk of developing the disease.

But an additional serving of fruit juice was linked to increased risk of type 2 diabetes that affects more than 25 million Americans.

The effects were observed during an 18-year period among 71,000 women enrolled in the Nurses' Health Study.

For the study, Dr. Lydia A. Bazzano of Tulane University School of Public Health and Tropical Medicine, New Orleans and colleagues analyzed data on the diets of Nurses and found 4,529 cases of diabetes during the follow-up.

For the analysis, the nurses were divided into five groups based on their dietary habits, namely their consumption of fruit and vegetables and fruit juice.

The researchers found an increase of three servings of whole fruit daily was correlated with an 18 percent lower risk of diabetes and a single additional serving of green leafy vegetables was associated with a 9 percent reduction.

However, an additional daily serving of fruit juice was linked with an 18 percent increase in the risk of type 2 diabetes.

Bazzano was cited by Reuters as saying that fruit juice could increase the risk because "it's a big sugar load and it comes in a liquid form which is absorbed rapidly."

The results published in the July, 2008 issue of the journal Diabetes Care suggests that fruit juice is not like whole fruit and caution needs to be exercised when fruit juice is recommended as a replacement for whole fruit.

The difference in health benefits between fruit juice and whole fruit has been reported in other studies.