Fruit juice ‘is diabetes risk’” is the headline in The Sun. “A daily glass of ‘healthy’ orange juice could actually increase the risk of diabetes,” the newspaper says. Women who drink a daily glass of fruit juice are 18% more likely to develop type 2 diabetes, but those who eat three pieces of fruit instead actually reduce their risk by the same amount, the newspaper adds.
This study – a large and, on balance, a well-conducted one – suggests a link between fruit juice and risk of type 2 diabetes. Diabetes is a complex condition, unlikely to be caused by a single factor. In light of this fact and some limitations with the study it is difficult to quantify the contribution that fruit juices make to risk, or the mechanisms by which this might happen, and the findings warrant further study.

Where did the story come from?
Dr Lydia Bazzano and colleagues from Tulane University School of Public Health and Tropical Medicine in Louisiana and other medical and academic centres across the USA carried out this study. The research was supported by the National Institutes of Health. One of the researchers received a grant from the Office of Research on Women’s Health and Office of Dietary Supplements.
It was published in the peer-reviewed medical journal: Diabetes Care

Fruit juice is diabetes risk The Sun, 24 July 2008

Just one glass of orange juice a day could increase risk of diabetes Daily Mail, 24 July 2008

Glass of juice a day increases diabetes risk The Daily Telegraph, 24 July 2008

Glass of fruit juice a day ‘increases diabetes risk Daily Express, 24 July 2008