NO LINK BETWEEN HIGH FRUIT CONSUMPTION, GESTATIONAL DIABETES

Women who eat higher amounts of whole fruits prior to pregnancy do not have an increased risk of gestational diabetes mellitus, and the association between fruit juice consumption and gestational diabetes appears to be nonlinear, according to a new study published in the journal Diabetes Care.

Researchers at Louisiana State University Health Science Center conducted a prospective study among 13,475 pregnant women participating in the Nurses' Health Study II (1991-2001) to investigate the association between pre-pregnancy consumption of fruit and fruit juice and gestational diabetes mellitus.

They found 860 women reported a first diagnosis of gestational diabetes mellitus. From the lowest (referent) to highest quintile of whole fruit consumption, the adjusted relative risks for gestational diabetes mellitus were 1.00, 0.80, 0.90, 0.80, and 0.93, respectively. For fruit juice, the corresponding relative risks for gestational diabetes mellitus were 1.00, 0.82, 0.78, 0.84, and 1.00.

They concluded the association of fruit juices with gestational diabetes mellitus risk appears to be nonlinear, with the lowest risk being among women with modest consumption.