Myth: Eating sugar leads to diabetes

Sugar leads to diabetes.” This is what you hear, and “You must stay away from white sugar in order to protect yourself from diabetes.” This is what you are also told, is this true?

The answer is no, these statements are just misleading; Sugar has damage to health, the most important of which is tooth decay, a problem no less important than diabetes. But for diabetes, sugar does not lead to disease. The UK Diabetes Association has called this a myth*, and so has the American Diabetes Association**.

And diabetes is of two types: Type 1 diabetes occurs when the immune system attacks and destroys the cells of the pancreas that make insulin.

As for type 2 diabetes, it occurs as a result of increased resistance of cells to insulin, and it occurs as a result of genetic factors, physical inactivity and weight gain.

Now, eating an excessive amount of calories (whether they are simple sugars such as sugar, fructose, etc., or complex carbohydrates such as bread and rice, proteins such as meat and legumes, and fats such as butter and olive oil) leads to weight gain, and thus increases the risk of diabetes.

The problem with promoting that diabetes is caused by eating sugar is that it ignores the real factors, so a person may be obese and inactive, but think that he is safe from diabetes as a result of his abstinence from sugar.

bad sugar

Here it must not be understood that sugar is good, sugar is bad and harmful, whether white sugar (sucrose) or brown sugar (white sugar to which molasses is added) or fruit sugar (fructose) found in honey, which is added to foods and drinks processed in the form of high-fructose corn syrup (High-Fructose Corn Syrup).

One of the most important harms of sugar is tooth decay and an increased risk of obesity when consumed in large quantities. Also, sugary drinks and sweets are empty foods, meaning that you eat calories without getting vitamins or minerals.

The other thing is that research has shown that drinking sugary drinks is linked to type 2 diabetes, so the American Diabetes Association recommends that people avoid sugar-sweetened drinks to help prevent diabetes, and again the problem here is not with solid sugar or sugary foods but with drinks , and this brings us back to the fact that these drinks provide empty calories, the person drinks them and is not satisfied, of course, and then eats food, so he ends up eating a large amount of calories that increase the risk of obesity, and thus diabetes.

only two crimes

There are two sins of drunkenness that have been proven by medical studies, and the rest of the accusations are insufficient evidence for them. As for his proven crimes, they are:

Tooth decay, as bacteria in the mouth break down and digest sugar in food, producing acids that attack the surface of the tooth, which leads to the loss of minerals and the occurrence of caries in it. And the relationship between tooth decay and sugar is proven, and this includes juices, honey, molasses and sweets, all of which cause decay.

The degree of harm that sugar does to the tooth is also related to other factors, such as how long the sugar stays in the mouth. Sugar in juice, for example, is less harmful than sugar in cake because it is swallowed faster. Another factor is the degree of viscosity of sugary food. For example, cotton candy and raisins are very harmful to the teeth because they stick to it and thus stay more in the mouth and provide food for bacteria that produce acids.

Malnutrition, which is the second crime that has been proven to be sugar, is related to the person not getting the necessary nutrients such as vitamins, minerals such as calcium, and dietary fiber.

To be clear, malnutrition here does not mean that a person lives in starvation, as long as he can buy cold canned juices and chocolates, he is most likely to live in prosperity and in a place where the population does not suffer from a lack of food.

famine

But what is meant is that the body of this person is going through starvation, and this is caused by eating large amounts of calories but without useful nutritional content.

Sugary foods such as chocolate and ice cream usually contain empty calories, meaning they contain an amount of energy but no useful nutrients, making them among the so-called "junk food".

For children, for example, eating sweets blocks the child's appetite for healthy food, and therefore one of the basic questions that the doctor asks of the mother of a child who suffers from anemia or malnutrition: Does he eat sweets? And how much?

Also, a person’s consumption of sugary drinks, such as juices and soft drinks, may mean that he does not get or drinks enough nutritious drinks such as milk, which means that his body does not get an adequate amount of calcium.

Therefore, the conclusion on this topic: you should reduce the intake of sugar, as it is harmful and leads to tooth decay and malnutrition, but it does not lead to diabetes.