Is It True That The Main Cause of Diabetes Is Eating Too Much Sugar?
June 25, 2009 · Filed Under Diabetes
swimfreak asked:
I know that it can be hereditary and that it’s more common for people who suffer with obesity have a higher risk of it, but if you eat a lot of sugar, are you at risk for it too? Just curious!
I know that it can be hereditary and that it’s more common for people who suffer with obesity have a higher risk of it, but if you eat a lot of sugar, are you at risk for it too? Just curious!
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18 Responses to “Is It True That The Main Cause of Diabetes Is Eating Too Much Sugar?”
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Starch is the main contributor to diabetes.
Yes Limit your sugar take.
Actually, carbohydrates, which the body breaks down into sugar, are the real bad guys.
that’s what i’ve hered. because what happends is your body can no longer change food into energy because that organ is blown out
no not at all, destruction of pancrease by any reason, alcoholism, lots of other reasons including genetics but not eating sugar. This will give you weight gain though, good luck
Yes, but not just sugar. Any refined carbohydrate, flour, alcohol, whiskey, beer, hi-fructose, etc. He needs to really cut down on the carbos, all carbos. He needs to eat more veggies and less fat.
He should eat as if he has stage 2 diabetes. Go to a doctor and dietitian. People really ignore this and don’t really care until they reach a threshold for the disease.
Too much sugar is bad for you whatever your health. It can add a lot of stress to the pancreas and hasten the onset of diabetes. See chapter 9 (Diabetes Is Not Always Permanent) in Let’s Get Well by Adelle Davis for an interesting point of view. Also, see Encyclopedia of Natural Medicine for more discussion on diabetes and its causes and treatments.
hmm…no…just eating alot of sweet stuff and sugar does not cause diabetes. my mom has diabetes and she hates too sweet things. but the general cause of diabetes is from eating alot of high cholestrol and fat foods. unless you eat ALOT of sugar that cause you to get really fat, i dont think ONLY itself cause cancer.
Causes of Type 1 Diabetes
Type 1 diabetes is an inherited defect of the immune system triggered by an environmental stimuli. The problem may be in the on switch of the immune system in which the viral stimuli do not turn the system on. The virus is then allowed to penetrate the beta cell and cause its destruction. Conversely, the problem may be in the off switch in that the system turns on appropriately and kills the virus but then does not turn itself off. The T-cells are then allowed to attack the beta cells themselves. This is a very simplified explanation. In point of fact, it is much more complex, involving many, many steps in the immune system. The beta cells themselves may contribute to this by producing antigens or chemicals on the cell surface that stimulate the immune system, and there may be many other environmental stimuli rather than just viruses. Indeed, there is some evidence now that protein in cows’ milk may cause the formation of antibodies that can attach to the beta cell or that are similar to antibodies on the beta cell. When the immune system mobilizes in response to a stimulus, these antibodies will attach to receptors on the surface of the beta cell causing the damage to occur to the beta cells of the pancreas. For whatever reason, the beta cells are then destroyed by the immune system in what is called an autoimmune phenomena, in which the body has come to recognize itself as a foreign body and begins to eliminate certain parts.
Recently researchers have been attempting to locate the genes for diabetes. As a part of the genome project, in which researchers around the world are attempting to map the entire gene structure of all the human chromosomes, they have isolated 18 genes that appear to be involved in the production of Type 1 diabetes. Not all of these genes have equal potency. Two of them appear to be most potent, some others are least potent, and others are simply auxiliary or helper genes that seem to have some assisting effect in the process. There are also genes which are protective so that one might inherit the genes for diabetes, but if you also inherited the protective genes, you would not develop the disease. Thus, development of the disease is not 100 percent in those who have inherited the genetics for the disease. Those people may have the genes but may either have protector genes or may be fortunate enough to avoid the environmental stimuli.
The cause of Type 1 diabetes, then, is an inherited defect in the immune system that interacts in some way with environmental factors. These factors may be viruses or chemicals in the environment or perhaps other environmental factors that we have not yet identified, which team up together to result in the eventual complete destruction of the beta cells and the loss of insulin secretion.
Causes of Type 2 Diabetes
The cause of Type 2 diabetes is not as well understood. Two factors appear to be important in Type 2 diabetes. These are insulin resistance and insulin deficiency. There is a debate over which comes first, but the general consensus of the moment is that insulin resistance is the first factor. Type 2 diabetes is also a genetic disease, although the genes are carried on entirely different chromosomes than those for Type 1 diabetes. There are probably multiple genes involved in this disease. For whatever reason, this genetic factor, perhaps interacting with some environmental factors such as obesity, excess caloric intake, deficient caloric expenditure, and aging, may result then in a resistance to insulin. That is, the peripheral cell, a muscle or fat or other cell, does not respond appropriately to the insulin present. The body then begins to produce more insulin in order to try to overcome the insulin resistance. The next part of the sequence may involve two factors. One is that the increasing insulin secretion may ultimately exhaust the beta cells, thus resulting in insulin deficiency. Another factor has been identified recently and this is called glucotoxicity. It turns out that sugar in high amounts can be toxic or poisonous to the cells of the body. In the person with insulin resistance who is running high blood sugars that have been undetected and untreated, or even in the person who know he or she has the disease but does not treat it appropriately, the continuing high levels of sugar have a toxic effect on the insulin-producing cells of the pancreas, thus damaging those cells and reducing insulin secretion. So we then end up with a combination of peripheral resistance to the action of insulin and at the same time insulin deficiency, and those two can then precipitate a severe case of Type 2 diabetes that may in fact require insulin for treatment. There are many steps in the action of insulin at the peripheral cell level, and each of those steps is stimulated by a different enzyme, and each enzyme is controlled by a different gene. Therefore, there are many potential places where the defects can occur, resulting in the same ultimate end: resistance of the peripheral cell to the action of insulin. This is probably the precipitating factor in Type 2 diabetes.
There is an increase in the diabetes for both Type 1 and Type 2 disease but a more pronounced increase in Type 2. The increase is at the rate of about 6 percent per year, which means the number of people with diabetes will double every 15 years. In the United States this increase is occurring predominately in the non-white ethnic populations. The prevalence of diabetes in the Caucasian population is approximately 5 to 6 percent; in the black population it is somewhere between 12 to 15 percent; in the Hispanic population it is around 20 percent; and in the Native American population it frequently exceeds 30 percent. Indeed, there are tribes in which the prevalence may be as high as 65 percent. Likewise, diabetes is increasing in the world, particularly in developing countries. The disease is very rare in third world or undeveloped countries. But as these countries begin to develop and achieve industrial prominence and economic stability there is a mushrooming of the amount of diabetes occurring in these cultures. This was seen in Japan after World War II and most recently in Korea and Taiwan, and it is now occurring in other Southeast Asian countries as the standard of living begins to increase. It is thought that this increase is probably related to increased caloric intake associated with decreased caloric expenditure. The genes for Type 2 diabetes are probably widespread throughout the world in equal amounts for all races and ethnic groups, but the change in lifestyle from manual labor with a low caloric intake to industrial labor with a high caloric intake and reduced caloric expenditure, because of the use of machinery, can then result in a virtual explosion of Type 2 diabetes.
Type 1 diabetes is pervalent in certain geographic areas that are closest to the equator, and as one moves farther north to the arctic circle the prevalence of the disease increases. The highest incidence occurs in the Scandinavian countries; the lowest in the Mediterranean area except for the Island of Sardinia which has an incidence equal to that of Finland. The reasons for these differences are not well understood but it is believed to be due to a change in diet from Brahman cows to English cows a few years ago. It is believed that there may be in English cows used throughout Europe and the Western Hemisphere a protein that may somehow cause the damage to the pancreas and that this protein is lacking in the milk of Brahman cows used in Africa and Asia. Time and research will tell if this is a causative factor in Type 1 diabetes in Europe and North America.
No…….it is when your pancreas does not produce insulin is when you get to be a diabetic. There are other co-morbid conditions contribute to this.
we get Diabetes if our body cant produce enough insulin to breakdown glucose production of our body…having low insulin would increase glucose storage in our body leading to what they call Hyperglycemia…our cells starve because there is no breakdown of glucose that they can absorb hence to compensate for it they get to breakdown fats to store energy which will lead to a greater problem…when you have diabetes it doesnt mean you have to eliminate sugar on your diet…our body needs sugar too…you must have a controlled diet that your little production of insulin can control…if you eliminate sugar or starve yourself to death you might end up in a hypoglycemic stage or worst coma…you can still have sugar, carbo, protein and fats on your diet..Having this disease needs alot of work and discipline, its a balancing act to maintain a normal glucose level to prevent major complications to kick in…yes obesity does count but whats great about it is if your obese with DM, the best way is just to loose weight ,cause obesity is taking too much of everthing …DM is more on genetic problems…theres no exact answer what causes this disease all they can see is our body produces a little or no insulin at all…anyway hope I was able to help you….Life is Sweet!
NO! Sugar has nothing to do with diabetes. The two main causes of diabetes are insulin resistance (the most common cause) or autoimmune. If it’s insulin resistance that means the body is unable to use insulin. Insulin is like a key that allows nutrients, including glucose (a type of sugar), to enter cells. In insulin resistance the cells do not respond to insulin and therefor glucose remains in the blood. Although it’s not understood exactly what causes this, weight seems to cause more resistance, so the more weight you have the more likely you are to become diabetic. People can have insulin resistance and be thin. Autoimmune is where the body attacks itself, attacks the insulin making cells. Unlike insulin resistance, in this case there just isn’t any or enough insulin to get into the cells…and again, the glucose remains in the blood. When too much glucose remains in the blood, that’s diabetes.
Diabetes is a sugar problem within the body.
Sugar and carbohydrates (that turn into sugar)
are very bad for diabetics. I would surmise that 75 percent of diabetics are overweight.
It’s hereditary because you generally inherit the way you eat from your parents.
Eat a higher protein, lots of veggies and hard fruits, Apples, pears and other fruit, diet. Eat a very health diet.
Yes, for type 2 diabetes, type 1 you have no control over. Yes if you’re obese you have a higher risk of type 2 diabetes from eating too many carbs.
when I found out my family had a distory of diabetes I quit eating sugar for the most part at 11 and deveoped diabetes many years after not eating sugar at all. I was careful of many kinds of sugar not just cane sugar. So the answer is NO!
Absolutely not. Sugar does NOT cause diabetes. I can’t believe how many people answered this incorrectly. They obviously have no idea. Although I’m overweight, I’ve NEVER eaten much sugar. In fact, I don’t like sugar much at all. The only thing I used to have with sugar was soda and I never had alot of that. I love water. However, I never used to eat good meals. I’d literally skip breakfast and lunch, then eat a big dinner. By doing this, I had highs and lows. It’s important to maintain a balanced diet with small meals and nutritious snacks. Then I got preggo and developed gestational diabetes. This tends to be common and goes away after you have the baby. However, since there’s a long family history of diabetes in my family, I was diagnosed with Type 2 diabetes a few years later. So once again, no, diabetes isn’t just about sugar. Once you have diabetes, sugar, starches or any carbohydrate must be watched closely though.
Absolute rubbish! People who believe that eating sugar, or carbohydrates, leads to diabetes, are totally wrong.
Diabetes can be hereditary, but if your parents or grandparents have it, it doesn’t necessarily mean that you, too, will get it. It indicates that you have a predisposition for developing it at some stage of your life.
Type 1 diabetes is an autoimmune condition where your body attempts to defend itself by destroying the islet cells within the pancreas that produce insulin.
Type 2 diabetes is a result of the insulin that’s produced not being able to be utilised.
First of all, I think a lot of these answers are just for points because so many of them are wrong.
Diabetes in caused by , for whatever reason, the pancreas does not make enough insulin for the sugar to be used by body cells.