CAN INDULGING IN SUGAR CAUSE DIABETES?

Diabetes is one of those diseases we all know about and also that it’s something to do with sugar. Sugar is often associated with this fastest growing chronic disease. But can too much sugar in your diet actually cause diabetes?

Essentially, diabetes is related to elevated blood sugar levels, so the logical answer would be, “Eat more sugar, and get diabetes”.

Before we arrive at this conclusion we must understand how diabetes is caused.

To get the energy we need to survive, our body converts some of the food we eat into sugars or glucose. At the same time, our pancreas is creating a hormone called insulin, which acts like a ferry boat, binding to cells and allowing them to absorb that glucose. But people with diabetes don't produce enough insulin, or that insulin is not sufficient, so it's like they've lost the boat — the cell door cannot be accessed and the glucose stays in our blood. Therefore, whilst there is plenty of glucose in the blood (too much glucose) it isn't getting into the cells properly where it's needed to provide energy for the body.

When our diet is rich in sugars the insulin levels go through the roof, the pancreas have to work overtime to try and maintain the blood sugar at a balanced level. Weight gain is a common side effect for people with high levels of insulin. The more insulin released to control your blood sugar level, the more glucose that gets into your cells and the less glucose that's wasted. Glucose that your cells don't use accumulates as fat. If you kept that high-sugar (high calorie) diet up, you could develop insulin resistance and thus weight gain (obesity) and fat accumulation, which is a major problem.

Obesity is certainly the main factor that's contributing to the epidemic of diabetes. The plain truth is we're sitting on a thin ice of obesity that could break into diabetes. But we can change this by changing how we eat right now.

So there are many causes of diabetes but sugar alone cannot be pinpointed as one of them. But does that mean you can stay in a mithai shop and gorge yourself? No, because if you eat too much sugar you are actually also indulging in a diet rich in fats and thus excess calories. This then will end up in you putting on weight and obesity is a risk factor.

So you can protect yourself with a healthy diet and regular exercise and if diabetes runs in the family or you have any concerns be more conscious and see your doctor if you observe any symptoms.