Myths & facts about diabetes Pt:4

MYTH # 4-”If I stop eating sugar, my Diabetes will go away.”-COMPLICATED FALSE

If I had a shilling for every time I heard this week’s myth, oh the things I could buy…

Many people believe this one, but if you recall from earlier articles, Diabetes is more complicated than simply coming from the sugar you eat.{{more}}

First off, I definitely agree that we should cut back on sugar intake, no arguments here. I think everyone, including people without diabetes, should try to use as little sugar as possible. Sugar adds calories without much nutrition, and can make you gain weight. There are other sweeteners with fewer calories (like Splenda) or at least having some other nutritional value (like honey and apple sauce), so give them a try.

Second, it is important that we get past this idea of “sugar causing diabetes.” As we discussed a few weeks ago, diabetes comes from a number of factors, often including a bad diet, but not directly BECAUSE of your sugar intake. This is why cutting out sugar will not cure your diabetes. Now, it certainly will HELP those blood sugar numbers get better, both because you stop giving yourself that extra sugar boost, and you will likely lose some weight when you stop adding 2 and 3 spoons of sugar to everything you drink. I do have patients who cut refined sugar out of their diets and their diabetes improved, but it did not go away completely. The people who had a big change in their diabetes had lost a lot of weight through a larger dietary change, which brings me to the main point…

‘Sugar,’ in terms of the lovely white or brown crystals we dump into passion fruit juice, is not only what you should be watching out for and avoiding. Sugar falls under the bigger umbrella of CARBOHYDRATES, which is the real mastermind of many potentially troublesome foods for people with diabetes. Speaking as a great lover of bread, I can truly say that I would rather give you my house and land than have a diet completely free of carbohydrates. My eyes are tearing up even thinking about it. Many people do try—the most popular version of this diet is called the Atkins diet, which is a protein-heavy, low-carbohydrate diet. It was very popular for a few years. My point here is that you need to monitor all carbohydrates, not just sugar. Some may take you by surprise because many carbohydrates are not really “sweet”- for example, some fruits, all starchy vegetables (potatoes, yams etc), pasta, bread, and rice. We will get to dietary recommendations later this year, but for now say “bye-bye” to big pieces of breadfruit or dumplings, and “hello” to more fish.

So in general: YES, cut back on your sugar intake. YES, try to limit starchy foods. NO, I am not saying it will cure your diabetes, but YES, it will help. Your body will thank you for it.

Until next time,

Anita Ramsetty, MD endodocs@endocrinehelp.com
Medical Director Endocrine Care Group
www.endocrinehelp.com