Type-2 diabetes affects upwards of 5% of the world’s population, and the number of cases is projected to rise in the coming decades, due to factors such as aging, obesity, and the pervasiveness of a sedentary lifestyle. Vanderbilt Epidemiology Center (Tennessee, USA) researchers followed 64,000 women residing in China, ages 40 to 70 years, for nearly 5 years, assessing their daily fruit and vegetable intakes and tracking the onset of diabetes. Those women who consumed the most vegetables -- averaging 428 grams, or 15 ounces, daily – were at 28% lower risk of developing the disease.

Researchers from Addenbrooke's Hospital (United Kingdom) followed 21,831 men and women, ages 40 to 75 years at the study’s start, for a 12-year period. The team found that men and women with the highest blood levels of vitamin C (reflecting a high fruit and vegetable intake) were at 62% reduced risk of developing type-2 diabetes, as compared to those with the lowest blood levels.

Not only rich sources of fiber, antioxidants, and magnesium, vegetables contain diabetes-reducing compounds such as phytates, lignans, and isoflavones. While the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) recommends that women ages 19-50 years consume 2 ½ cups of veggies daily, and men ages 19-50 years consume 3 cups daily, anti-aging physicians recommend doubling those amounts.