Orange juice is widely known as the vital source of vitamin C, but the findings of a new study showed that orange juice could raise the risk of diabetes. The researchers from Harvard Medical School in the U.S. found that orange juice can raise the blood sugar because it does not have any fiber, and thus is absorbed too rapidly in the stomach.

But, on the other hand, eating three portions of fruit a day actually cuts down the risk of diabetes by 18%.

The researchers arrived at the conclusion by tracking the health habits of more than 70,000 female nurses over an 18-year period. They found a positive relation between drinking orange juice and Type 2 Diabetes.

They were surprised to notice that where eating the whole fruit decreased the risk of getting Type 2 Diabetes, drinking fruit juice on the other hand actually increased the risk of Diabetes.

The journal of Diabetes Care reported that a glass of Orange juice a day raised the risk of getting diabetes by 24 percent.

“Juices have their place. They provide a good shot of vitamin C but we have to watch them because they can be quite high in sugar,” said Dr Joanne Lunn of the British Nutrition Foundation.

However, it is not clear whether men’s risk of getting diabetes by consuming the fruit juice increases, since the research was carried out only on women. But still the findings are more than enough to warn people that they should cut down their intake of orange juice and instead consume the fruit as a whole.