An apple a day truly keeps the doctor away. And true to its promise, a recent study shows that eating fresh fruits daily may help lower your risk for diabetes. A study of half a million people in China found those who ate fruit daily were 12% less likely to get type 2 diabetes than those who never or rarely ate it.

The team found that people who did not have diabetes at the beginning of the study and consumed fresh fruit in high amounts had a significantly lower risk of diabetes. Additionally, those who had diabetes at the beginning of the study and consumed high amounts of fruit had a significantly lower risk of dying from any cause, as well as a lower risk of developing cardiovascular complications.

NHS UK reports:

It was also found that people with diabetes at the start of the study who ate fruit regularly were slightly less likely to die or to get complications of diabetes, such as eye problems (diabetic retinopathy), during the study than those who ate fruit rarely or never.

The study was carried out by researchers from the University of Oxford, and Peking University, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences, China National Center for Food Safety Risk Assessment, Non-communicable Disease Prevention and Control Department, and Pengzhou Center for Disease Control and Prevention, all in China. It was funded by the Kadoorie Charitable Foundation.

Read more here.