Does A Diet High In Sugar Increase The Risk For Diabetes?

Diabetes is a metabolic disorder that results in excess blood sugar, or hyperglycemia, and disturbances of fat, carbohydrate, and protein metabolism. A defect in the action of your body's insulin or a lack of insulin typically causes diabetes. The two most commons kinds of diabetes are Type 1 and Type 2.

Understanding Sugar

Glucose is the molecule that measured in the blood as sugar. Your diet has different sources of glucose. Traditional types of white and brown sugars contain glucose. There is also glucose in milk and many carbohydrates such as potato and bread. Therefore, it is not only sweets that can raise blood-sugar levels in your body. Non-sweet foods that contain glucose can have the same impact on sugar levels in your body as sweets. Potatoes and white bread, for example, are typically higher on the scale of blood glucose-raising capacity glycemic index than table sugar.

Risk Factors

The American Diabetic Association states that overweight individuals have a higher risk of developing diabetes. Additional factors such as physical inactivity, having a first-degree relative with diabetes, or having a high-risk ethnic background such as Native America, Latino, African American, Asian American or Pacific Islander further increases an individuals chances of developing diabetes. Other individuals considered at risk for developing diabetes include individuals that have an inadequate response to insulin, hypertension, HDL cholesterol levels less than 35mg/dL and/or tryglicerides more than 250mg/dL and women with polycystic ovary syndrome.

Sugar and Diabetes

While diabetic patients need to restrict sugar intake, it is unclear whether a sugar reduction in the diet of a healthy individual helps to prevent diabetes. The ADA does not mention the reduction of sugar intake as a preventative measure, though it does consider being overweight a risk factor. In one study published in the April 2003 issue of "Diabetes Care," a high-sucrose intake did not affect insulin sensitivity or glycemic profiles in healthy nondiabetic subjects. Another study published in the April 2007 journal "Clinical Diabetes," showed that intake of sugars is apparently not deleterious in glycemic controls. In his book "The Saccharine Disease, the Master Disease of our Time," however, Dr. Thomas L. Cleave implicated the excess intake of simple carbohydrates in the development of diabetes as well as colitis, peptic ulcer, varicose veins and coronary heart disease.

Conclusion

Although studies have not conclusively determined that sugar leads to an increased risk of diabetes, sugar may lead to weight gain and obesity, proven risk factors for diabetes. You should, therefore, avoid an excessive intake of sugars in your diet that can lead to obesity.