The diet to beat diabetes: Eating more fruit and veg and cutting out sugar is the simplest way to avoid condition as report warns 12million are at risk

A damning report shows that 12million British people are now at risk from diabetes and advises a diet of fresh fruit, wholegrain foods and as little sugar as possible to beat the disease.

The report from the Scientific Advisory Committee on Nutrition warns that the danger is now so serious that people need to drastically cut the amount of sugar in their diet and load up on fresh fruit.

Professor Simon Capewell, of the Faculty of Public Health warned that we are 'drowning in a sea of calories,' warning that even teenagers get diabetes, as the nation faces an epidemic.

That's equivalent to five sugar cubes in children aged four to seven and seven cubes for people 11 and over - which is less than is contained in a single can of coke.

Research by the food industry-backed British Nutrition Foundation suggests that hitting the new target will mean cutting out almost all fizzy drinks and making crisps and chocolate bars a ‘once or twice a week’ luxury, rather than an everyday snack.

But currently, the report warns that the average person consumes 18-20 teaspoons of sugar, most of it found in artificially sweetened fizzy drinks, TV dinners, breakfast cereals and processed meats.

The report warns us to replace these foods with five portions of fruit and vegetables, combined with starchy foods like potatoes and rice to avoid getting diabetes.

It will also reduce the risk of other conditions, including high blood pressure, strokes, heart disease, some cancers and obesity.

It particularly warns about the high amount of sugar in fizzy drinks, saying that high consumption directly increases the risk of type two diabetes and is linked to weight gain and high BMI in teenagers. 

Ministers are divided on a sugar tax, with some urging David Cameron to drop his opposition to it before the Government publishes its obesity strategy in the autumn.

A Cabinet source said previous attempts to persuade the food industry to reduce sugar levels had produced only limited success.

‘The truth is that these deals with industry can only take us so far,’ the source said. ‘Most people already eat more than the recommended amount. If we are going to halve that, we are going to have to do something dramatic.’

The British Medical Association this week called for a swingeing 20 per cent tax on sugary drinks. The move would raise the price of a one-litre bottle of Coke from £1.50 to £1.80. The BMA said poor diet was killing 70,000 people a year and costing the NHS £6billion.

A similar tax has been introduced in Mexico, but the jury is still out on its impact.