The article, if you'd have cared to read it mentions and links to specific recent academic research papers as further proof.
But hey, you mentioned it, let's "googe" some real research papers, to use your words:
https://www.sciencedirect.com/scienc...24224421005471Highlights
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Umbrella review was conducted to evaluate the relationship between fruit intake and multiple health outcomes.
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Increasing the fruit intake by 1 serving/d could reduce the risks of CVD, stroke, CHD and oral cancer by 3%, 8%, 4% and 49%.
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Increasing the fruit intake by 200 g/d could reduce the risk of breast cancer by 6%.
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Increasing the fruit intake to 100–500 g/d could reduce the risk of type 2 diabetes mellitus by 8%–12%.
Research also shows the direct benefit fruit consumption has on prevention of diabetes:
https://www.researchgate.net/publica...g_Co-EpidemicsHowever, sugars in fruit and vegetables are natural sugars and will not be metabolized in the same manner as refined sugars. 71 The multitude of effects of fruits and vegetables such as anti-oxidative, anti-inflammatory, antihypertensive, anti-dyslipidaemic, anti-hyperglycaemic, and modulation of the composition and metabolic activity of gut microbiota 72,73 may be implicated in controlling the blood sugar in patients with diabetes. Therefore, as optimum nutrition has an integral role in glycemic control of patients with diabetes decreasing the intake of fizzy drinks and fast food, increasing daily intake of fresh fruits and vegetables will have a clinically relevant protective effect and aid in achieving the recommended glycemic target.
https://www.researchgate.net/publica...xpY2F0aW9uIn19Fruit contains sugars (i.e., glucose and fructose), which may have negative affects on glycaemic control. However, the natural sugars in fruit may not be metabolized in the same way as refined sugars because other beneficial nutrients such as dietary fiber or phytochemicals may interact with the natural sugars in glycemic response [29,38]. The negative correlation between fruit intake and blood glucose levels in our study also confirms this point.
In other words, please educate yourself on the research at hand, and do try to eat more fruit to remain healthy. The story about "your friend's aunt" is what an academic researcher in any field would call anecdotal and statistical negligible.