Hi Everyone!

This week we start addressing some of the common myths floating around about diabetes. In my practice I have found that wrong information is responsible for a number of cases of “Diabetes gone bad.” I apologize to those of you who will find this information very basic, but starting from the ground up always seems like the best way to go.

This first idea, “Diabetes comes from sugar”, is one of the most widely believed. But stop and think a while—considering the average American diet, if Diabetes came from sugar or anything sweet, then really practically everybody should have Diabetes! I admit the idea seems to make sense, which is why so many people believe it: if you eat too much sugar, it just follows that you should then have high blood sugar. Right?  Not so. Our bodies are a lot more complicated, so it just does not work that way for people without Diabetes. Now when you ALREADY have Diabetes, ofcourse eating too many sweet things will raise your blood sugar, but this is after you have stepped over the line. We are talking about what happens before you step over.

This answer to this question is complicated because of several things:

First, I should mention if you have type 1 Diabetes, also called Insulin Dependent/requiring Diabetes, that this had nothing to do with any sugary foods you ate before your diagnosis. Type 1 Diabetes happens because your body does not make insulin, and it is not caused by diet or weight. If you have Type 1 Diabetes, please stop beating yourself up about how much candy you ate as a child because that is not the cause of your diabetes.

Most people have Type 2 Diabetes: This is also called Non-insulin dependent/requiring Diabetes, although it can develop into a stage where you do need some additional insulin. This type of Diabetes is again NOT DIRECTLY related to eating sugar, but is very much affected by diet in general. To develop this type of Diabetes, you need to have a meeting of several conditions, have your own eclipse of the sun, so to speak. There is a definite genetic component and most people with type 2 Diabetes have had someone else in their family with Diabetes, even if they do not know it.  Most also are either a little or very much overweight. Now I know that some cultures, including mine, appreciate a little “meat on the bones”.  But “meaty” should not become heavy, especially if you carry fat in your belly area. These are the people who are more likely to have problems with blood sugars in life. Lack of exercise also plays a very big role. Other factors also come into play, some of which are too complicated to explain in detail here but can also include  insulin resistance, effects of medications and effects of other illnesses.

So to sum up, simply eating sugar does not CAUSE Diabetes, however the weight you gain from eating badly can make you more likely to have glucose problems at some point.  The good news is that we have tons of research showing us that the reverse is true: losing weight and eating better (including less sugar) can help prevent diabetes, as well as reverse it in some people. The American Diabetes Association includes some of the most recent research and some suggestions on its website (www.diabetes.org). And since knowledge is power, we should use this to get ourselves moving in the right direction as much as we can. Until next week, stay well and keep safe, everyone!

• Those dreaded morning highs after breakfast….
• Diabulimia? Yes, you heard well.
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• Annual Diabetes Costs hit $174 BILLION in the U.S. Alone
• Diabetes up 20% in Australia
• HbA1C tests, the results and what they mean to you

This entry was posted on Friday, July 11th, 2008 at 10:06 pm and is filed under Diabetes Bloggers, Glucose Management.
Tags: Diabetes, diabetes myths, glucose, glucose myths, myths, sugar.
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