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Peeling fruit can cause inaccurate diabetes test results

Category: Diabetes

Handling fruit before an insulin test may throw off the results for diabetics, according to a new study from a team of Japanese researchers.

While some diabetics think that eating fruit may increase their blood sugar levels, the researchers said that it has more to do with the sugar on the outside of the body than the inside. They said that peeling fruit leaves behind microscopic traces on the fingers that cause artificially high blood sugar test results.

For the study, researchers from Juntendo University Graduate School of Medicine in Tokyo had a group of healthy, diabetes-free participants peel an orange, a bunch of grapes or a kiwifruit before taking a blood sugar test. Some of the subjects washed their hands with soapy water, while others washed with alcohol.

Those who either left their hands untreated or washed with alcohol had higher than expected test results. Washing with soapy water appeared to minimize the effect.

The researchers said that this can be a dangerous situation for diabetics, as inaccurate blood sugar or insulin test results can throw off their care regimen, leading to poorer healthy.