You will have heard that eating sugar is the main reason for diabetes, but it is just a myth because diabetes maybe who do not consume much sugar. The truth is that diabetes does not start with sugar only but then begins when something changes your body’s energy into food.
You may have wondered if eating too many sweets can cause diabetes. The simple answer is no. But there’s more to know before giving into those cravings for cookies, candy and sweetened drinks.
Because type 2 diabetes is not always linked to obesity and having diabetes means blood sugar levels are consistently too high.
“If you’re not overweight, eating extra sweets probably presents little risk of causing prediabetes and type 2 diabetes,” says University Hospitals endocrinologist Revital Gorodeski Baskin, MD. “However, prediabetes is very closely linked to diet and weight. If you consume high sugar foods on a daily basis, it’s likely you’ll gain excessive weight and develop insulin resistance – the first sign of prediabetes.”
Sweets and Insulin Resistance
When you consume sugar – including complex carbohydrates which are broken down into sugar for energy – the pancreas produces insulin. Insulin is the hormone required to move glucose from the bloodstream into the body’s cells and metabolize it for energy. If you eat sweets throughout the day, the pancreas works continuously to produce enough insulin.
“Insulin is a ‘building’ hormone: when it is present, the body is always building,” explains Dr. Gorodeski Baskin. “But the body requires time to rest from building to allow for breakdown. Continual high insulin levels cause the body to become resistant and over time, insulin becomes completely ineffective.”
The Effects of Insulin Resistance
Being diagnosed with prediabetes or type 2 diabetes indicates that you have developed a state of insulin resistance. If the body resists the effects of insulin or doesn’t make enough of it, glucose stays in the bloodstream. High blood sugar levels interrupt normal body system responses and healing, and can cause nerve damage which can result in vision or limb loss.
Meanwhile, excess sugar not used for energy is stored as fat. This leads to weight gain and further insulin resistance. This results in type 2 diabetes, fatty liver, high blood pressure, high cholesterol, cardiovascular disease and other metabolic abnormalities. These are all signs and symptoms of metabolic syndrome, a consequence of prolonged excessive sugar consumption.
Are Fruit Sugars Okay?
While the sugar in cookies, cakes and sweetened beverages is most often linked with excessive sugar intake, the sugar in fruit can contribute to insulin resistance if eaten in excess. But because fruits offer the benefits of fiber and many nutrients, they’re a good alternative to sugary snacks and beverages.
While all fruits are healthy, when comparing sugar content, berries are lower in sugar content than fruits such as watermelon, grapes and pineapple. The key is to eat fruit in moderation to maintain healthy blood sugar levels.
Artificial Sweeteners
Although artificial sweeteners don’t raise blood sugar levels, they’ve been found to cause an insulin response. The exact mechanism is not yet understood. However, it’s important to allow for periods of fasting throughout the day to achieve lower blood sugar and insulin levels.
If you drink an afternoon diet soda in between meals, blood sugar levels won’t rise measurably, but an insulin rush will keep the body building and, over time, can lead to insulin resistance.
Moderation Is Key
While eating lots of sugar occasionally doesn’t directly cause diabetes in a normal weight, healthy person, too much sugar can certainly be detrimental. Portion control and moderation are key. If you’re consuming too much sugar on a daily or hourly basis, you will most likely gain weight and develop metabolic syndrome.
What happens to sugar in the body?
When you think about sugar, you’re probably thinking of “table sugar,” the type added to coffee and tea or used in baking.
But there are several types of sugar, and they have different effects on your body.
The scientific name for table sugar is sucrose. Sucrose is a disaccharide, meaning it’s made of two simple sugars: glucose and fructose.
When you eat sucrose, the glucose goes directly into your bloodstream to be used for energy. Alternatively, it can be stored in your muscles or as fat.
Before fructose can be used as energy, most passes through your liver, where it’s turned into glucose and fat.
If you eat too much fructose, this process can lead to fatty deposits in your liver, unhealthy levels of blood fats called triglycerides, and excess uric acid, all of which are linked to an increased risk of diabetes.
The most common sources of fructose are:
- Sucrose, which comes from sugar cane or sugar beet.
- High-fructose corn syrup (HFCS), which is a blend of fructose and glucose made from corn starch.
Sucrose, fructose, and glucose also occur naturally in fruits and vegetables but usually in relatively smaller amounts, and fruits and vegetables generally are good sources of other beneficial substances, such as fiber and minerals.
Many processed foods like soft drinks and desserts contain added sugars in larger, more concentrated amounts.
The World Health Organization call these “free sugars.” More specifically, they are sugars “added to foods and beverages by the manufacturer, cook or consumer, and sugars naturally present in honey, syrups, fruit juices, and fruit juice concentrates.”
Free sugars in fruit juices have been released from the cells of fruits or vegetables by processing, meaning they can be absorbed easily, raising your blood sugar quickly.
The sugars in “natural” syrups like honey and agave are also free sugars.
Does sugar increase diabetes risk?
Eating sugar doesn’t increase your risk of type 1 diabetes, because it’s not caused by lifestyle factors, such as diet. But when it comes to type 2 diabetes, things are a bit more complicated.
Regularly eating lots of sugar can contribute to overweight, which is a risk factor for type 2 diabetes.
Several large-scale studies did show that people who regularly consume drinks like soda, which contain added sucrose and fructose, have a significantly higher risk of developing type 2 diabetes.
Researchers looking at eight studies, including more than 286,000 participants, found that higher consumption of drinks with added sugar was associated with a 30% higher risk of developing type 2 diabetes.
Another review of studies found that consuming one serving each day of added-sugar drinks increased people’s risk of diabetes by between 13% and 18%.
These and other studies also showed that the risk was greater even when differences in BMI or weight were accounted for.
The American Diabetes Association recommends that you “avoid drinking sugar-sweetened beverages and switch to water whenever possible to help prevent type 2 diabetes.”
Diabetes may be of the following reasons:
Causes of diabetes to your kid
- Anyone with a parent with type 1 diabetes has a slightly increased risk of developing the condition.
- The presence of certain genes indicates an increased risk of developing type 1 diabetes.
- In the United States, type 1 diabetes is more common among non-Hispanic white children than among other races.
- Exposure to various viruses may trigger the autoimmune destruction of the islet cells.
- No specific dietary factor or nutrient in infancy has been shown to play a role in the development of type 1 diabetes.
Causes of type 2 diabetes
- lack of physical activity is the most common cause of type 2 diabetes.
- When the pancreas produces very little insulin.
- When the body does not respond appropriately to insulin, a condition called “insulin resistance.”
- Dietary factors are often viewed as a prominent cause of diabetes and often incorrect assumptions that it is the only factor linked to a cause are made.
- Research indicates that an Unbalanced diet can play an important part in type 2 diabetes.
Causes of gestational diabetes
- If you have prediabetes — slightly elevated blood sugar, you may be gestational diabetes.
- You’re also more likely to develop gestational diabetes if you had diabetes during a previous pregnancy.
- if you delivered a baby who weighed more than 9 pounds (4.1 kilograms) or if you had an unexplained stillbirth.
- You’re more likely to develop gestational diabetes if you’re significantly overweight
- a family history of type 2 diabetes
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