For most people, eating fruit goes along with a healthy diet. But for people with diabetes, it’s a different story.

Should fruit be kept to a minimum or even avoided altogether because of its sugar content? Or do the fiber and other nutrients it contains minimize its effect on blood sugar? Because of a lack of research, and conflicting advice, there has not been a clear answer.

But a new study in Nutrition Journal should provide some guidance: It found that restricting fruit intake did not seem to benefit diabetics.

In the study, the first randomized trial to address the issue, researchers recruited 63 overweight men and women with newly diagnosed Type 2 diabetes. All of the subjects were given medical care and nutrition advice, including suggestions to limit calories. But some were randomly assigned to limit their fruit intake, while a second group was instructed to eat at least two pieces of fruit daily. The goal was to see how this affected their levels of glycosylated hemoglobin, which provides an indication of blood sugar level over time.

The first group ended up consuming about 135 grams of fruit a day, roughly equivalent to a single orange or banana, while the second group consumed about 320 grams of fruit daily.

After 12 weeks, both groups had lost weight and had smaller waists, but those who ate more fruit had the greatest reductions. And there was no significant difference between the two groups when it came to their blood sugar measures.

“Considering the many possible beneficial effects of fruit,” the authors wrote, “we recommend that fruit intake should not be restricted in Type 2 diabetic subjects.”

THE BOTTOM LINE

Avoiding fruit may not prove beneficial for Type 2 diabetics, but more research is needed.