If you had to choose between two snacks—one with seven grams of sugar and another with more than 30 grams—you’d probably pick the one with less sugar, thinking it’s the healthier option.
But when it comes to your health, especially for people with prediabetes, the choice might not be that simple.
Almost 100 million adults in the United States are living with prediabetes. For them, a sweet fruit like mango, which can have up to 50 grams of sugar, may seem like a bad idea. But new research shows that mangoes might actually help protect against diabetes—even though they contain more sugar than many so-called “healthy” snacks.
Raedeh Basiri, a clinical nutrition researcher and assistant professor at George Mason University, led a study that looked at how eating mangoes affects people with prediabetes.
It turns out, it’s not just about how much sugar is in a food—it’s about the whole food and how it’s processed in the body.
Mangoes have natural sugars, but they also come packed with fiber, vitamins, and nutrients that help the body, unlike processed snacks that may have low sugar but few health benefits.
In Basiri’s words, “It is not just the sugar content that matters, but the overall food context that matters.”
Her study is the first long-term clinical trial to show that mangoes can improve both blood sugar control and body composition in people with prediabetes.
The study included two groups of participants. One group ate a fresh mango every day, which had about 32 grams of natural sugar. The other group ate a low-sugar granola bar with only 11 grams of sugar.
The study lasted six months, and the researchers checked each person’s blood sugar levels, how their body responded to insulin, and their body fat.
The results were surprising. The group that ate the mango each day had better blood sugar control, improved insulin sensitivity, and less body fat than the group that ate the granola bar. Even though the mango had nearly three times as much sugar, it turned out to be the healthier option.
This study supports the idea that whole fruits like mangoes should be part of a healthy diet—especially for people at risk of diabetes.
Foods with added sugars, like processed cereals or some snack bars, may not offer the same benefits. It’s also a reminder that focusing only on sugar grams can sometimes lead people away from healthier choices.
“The goal is to encourage people to include whole fruits, like mango, as part of healthy eating behaviors and practical dietary strategies for diabetes prevention,” said Basiri.
The study, titled “Daily Mango Intake Improves Glycemic and Body Composition Outcomes in Adults with Prediabetes: A Randomized Controlled Study,” was published in the journal Foods.
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