Could an orange a day keep diabetes away?
Oranges are known to protect against heart disease and high blood pressure,
and they’re full of cancer-fighting phytochemicals. But in parts of Asia, it
s believed that overeating oranges is asking for health trouble, including
diabetes. Just the opposite, say investigators. Turns out that people who
eat at least an orange a day are less likely to have diabetes, not more.
Fruit consumption in Japan has fallen or stayed the same, leading
researchers to speculate that some Japanese believe eating too many oranges
makes people gain weight, increases fats in the blood, and invites diabetes.
To determine if there was any truth to this bad rap, scientists surveyed
more than 6,000 people in an area of Japan where satsuma mandarin oranges
are especially popular. Instead of finding that eating oranges was risky,
the scientists discovered the opposite: Diabetes was less common in people
who ate one to four oranges a day than in those who rarely ate the fruit.
All those vitamins and nutrients in oranges may actually help prevent
diabetes, say the researchers.
As for the other fears, the orange-lovers were no more likely to be obese or
have elevated levels of fat in their blood than those who ate few or no
oranges.
So make eating one of these juicy, zesty, tangy, refreshing, portable treats
a daily habit.
July 16th, 2006 at 7:03 pm
Cinnamon is supposed to be a "miracle" spice and helps to control the blood
sugar levels.
I have found this to be somewhat true as it is a "sweet" spice and makes
coffee flavorful, thus elimaniting the need for sugar.
Melodie
Oranges are known to protect against heart disease and high blood pressure,
and they’re full of cancer-fighting phytochemicals. But in parts of Asia, it
s believed that overeating oranges is asking for health trouble, including
diabetes. Just the opposite, say investigators. Turns out that people who
eat at least an orange a day are less likely to have diabetes, not more.
Fruit consumption in Japan has fallen or stayed the same, leading
researchers to speculate that some Japanese believe eating too many oranges
makes people gain weight, increases fats in the blood, and invites diabetes.
To determine if there was any truth to this bad rap, scientists surveyed
more than 6,000 people in an area of Japan where satsuma mandarin oranges
are especially popular. Instead of finding that eating oranges was risky,
the scientists discovered the opposite: Diabetes was less common in people
who ate one to four oranges a day than in those who rarely ate the fruit.
All those vitamins and nutrients in oranges may actually help prevent
diabetes, say the researchers.
As for the other fears, the orange-lovers were no more likely to be obese or
have elevated levels of fat in their blood than those who ate few or no
oranges.
So make eating one of these juicy, zesty, tangy, refreshing, portable treats
a daily habit.
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
July 18th, 2006 at 4:00 am
It is obvious that you did not bother to read what I posted - you just
quickly came to your own assumption and conclusion. And, there is some
difference in the way your body processes fructose in fruit and sucrose
which I will put in another post. You are right, some diabetics cannot
tolerate ANY fruit at all while others can enjoy limited amounts of it.
Most diabetics can eat some fruit - my doctor recommended that I continue to
eat fruit but to spread it throughout the day. And, like any other carb I
eat, I eat protein with it (a little peanut butter on a few apple slices or
a small piece of cheese). Just for the record, many vegetables also have
frutose. But that was not what the article was about. And, just because *
YOU* can’t see how eating oranges could keep diabetes away does not mean
that it can’t. At one point, probably nobody ever thought some lizard
somewhere would lead to the medication that is now giving many people
control for their diabetes and may actually be reversing beta cell damage.
It was not a press release from the Florida Orange Growers Assn. *
6,000*people were part of the survey. It is not the results the
researchers
expected so I think that is what makes it especially interesting. *The
article did not recommend oranges for diabetics* or say anything about
whether or not diabetics could tolerate them so I don’t quite know where you
are coming from. It said: *"Diabetes was less common in people who ate one
to four oranges a day than in those who rarely ate the fruit. All those
vitamins and nutrients in oranges may actually help prevent diabetes, say
the researchers." *
**
This is also an interesting article about oranges that included 48
international studies on the health benefits of citrus fruit that found
"convincing evidence" that citrus could reduce the risk of cardiovascular
diseases, obesity, and diabetes: