There may be just enough connections to understand how the myth got started, but the fact is there is no truth to the notion that too much sugar causes diabetes. The common misconception may have got its start because blood glucose is more commonly referred to as blood sugar. When a diabetic tests the blood daily, they are checking for their blood glucose level, or blood sugar level. Just the name may be enough for some people to make the connection. But let’s take a quick look at what the root cause of type 1 and type 2 diabetes really is.
What is the real problem for a type 1 diabetic?
There is no facts or evidence to even suggest that too much sugar causes diabetes type 1. The problem with type 1 diabetes is that the pancreas doesn’t make the hormone insulin. Without insulin in the body, your life will not be a long one at all, and what life you do have will be of poor quality. But the destruction of the insulin producing cells in the pancreas has nothing to do with the person’s intake of sugar. Type 1 diabetes is an autoimmune disease. The body’s own immune system destroys the pancreas’s cells that are responsible for insulin production. The exact reason the body turns on itself isn’t fully understood, and there is much research still needed before it will be completely understood, but the too much sugar causes diabetes theory has nothing to do with it.
What about type 2 diabetes.
Can it be that too much sugar causes diabetes type 2? This is where there may be just a thread of in indirect connection, although it’s still hard to understand how one could conclude that too much sugar causes diabetes type 2. In type 2 diabetes, the pancreas is still capable of making some insulin, but it is not enough, or doesn’t work as it should. The only connection that could possibly be found is that eating too much sugar can cause a person to gain weight. And being overweight or obese is a risk factor for developing type 2 diabetes – probably the biggest risk factor, along with inactivity, or lack of exercise.
Too much sugar causes diabetes to get worse – is this true?
This is only true to the extent that it causes you to gain weight. Other than that, a diabetic can include sweets and sugar into their diet, as long as their diet is a balanced and healthy one. Nobody should have too much sugar as part of their diet, mostly because sugar is high in calories but doesn’t provide much nutritional value. They are “empty calories”, that are not of much value other than the flavor provided by sugar, which most people like.
So the next time you hear that too much sugar causes diabetes, you’ll know the facts.
