Blueberries vs Grapes: Which Fruit Is Better for Blood Sugar? - EatingWell

They were born into a Britain still recovering from the hardships of war. Though the air-raid sirens had fallen silent, many everyday foods remained rationed, including sugar. Adults were restricted to about 3 tablespoons (40g) a day to stretch between cups of tea, baking and desserts; children were limited to less than a tablespoon. Babies and very young children were expected to have little or no added sugar. Then, in 1953, the brakes came off. Separate restrictions on sweets and chocolate were lifted in February, followed by sugar in September. By the second half of 1954, average sugar consumption had almost doubled. A London shopkeeper puts up a sign announcing the new price of sugar, as announced in the budget in September 1939. The price has risen by a penny a pound. Photograph: Fox Photos/Getty ImagesThe lifting of postwar sugar rationing inadvertently created a natural experiment, whose consequences scientists are only beginning to unpick. A flurry of recent studies suggests that spending the first 1,000 days of life under sugar rationing may have left traces on people’s health more than seven decades later.

In the US, the official health recommendations for fruit are two cups per day for a diet based on 2,000 daily calories – but it's estimated that 8 in 10 people aren't reaching that level, and consuming less than half that amount. Earlier this year these Dietary Guidelines for Americans (DGA) were updated to cover 2025 to 2030, and while the recommended amount of fruit intake didn't change from the previous edition, there was a more subtle shift: Americans were advised to prioritize whole fruit over fruit juice where possible. A new study published in Current Developments in Nutrition backs up that shift in advice. In an analysis of the dietary habits of 371,000 participants, researchers led by a team from the University of North Dakota found that connections between fruit intake and cardiovascular disease (CVD) varied depending on how it was consumed. While there was a noticeable association between higher whole fruit intake and better cardiovascular health, there was no clear and reliable pattern in the data when it came to 100 percent fruit juice and the same CVD conditions, the researchers found. Fresh oranges are different to fresh orange juice.