If there’s one thing that people get out of my posts, is that “diabetes” is really not an accurate general term. When people say “diabetes” they are typically referring to type 2 diabetes, which is extremely different than type 1 diabetes. So today, I’m going to tell you why I can eat that cookie.
What we know as Type 2 Diabetes is a metabolic disease caused from a person’s body that has become insulin resistant in most cases. So to break it down a little, when we eat carbs or sugar, our body breaks it down to glucose. As that glucose hits our bloodstream, our blood glucose goes up. Our body wants to stay in homeostasis, so it wants to keep our blood glucose pretty level and within a normal range. To do this our beta cells in our pancreas produce insulin. Insulin brings our blood glucose levels back down. But imagine hitting an empty soda can with a sledgehammer. Eventually, the can will be flat and nothing happens with it is hit. The same thing happens. When we have a dietary lifestyle that is high in sugars and carbs, especially processed sugars and carbs, the receptors get hit so much that they no longer actually receive the insulin to bring our blood glucose levels back down. So then our blood glucose levels remain high, leading to type 2 diabetes. Physical activity also influences type 2 diabetes as activity increases insulin sensitivity, our body’s ability to accept the insulin. A sedentary lifestyle combined with a an unhealthy dietary lifestyle is a double whammy. There is a genetic component to type 2 diabetes, so if it is in your family, I encourage you to have a lifestyle that decreases your chances in developing type 2 diabetes!
On the other hand, type 1 diabetes is an autoimmune disorder where those same beta cells that produce insulin die. The body attacks itself and kills all of the beta cells until there are no more, meaning no more insulin can be produced to bring glucose levels back to normal ranges. This means that the insulin receptors are still good, so as long as the body gets insulin from an external source, it will still be received. Of course, insulin resistance can start to occur in type 1 diabetes if a healthy lifestyle with good dietary habits and good activity levels are not achieved. There is a genetic component to type 1 diabetes, but no one in my family has ever had it, and that’s not uncommon. There’s a lot of research going on right now trying to figure out what exposures lead to a mutation that leads to type 1 diabetes. Some findings see environmental factors, some see that certain viruses or illnesses can trigger it, and some findings suggest that type 1 diabetes is greatly associated with other diseases like thyroid problems or gluten allergies. We ultimately don’t know yet, but we’re figuring it out!
Type 2 diabetes is also referred to as adult-onset diabetes and type 1 is sometimes referred to childhood-onset diabetes. However, I’ve heard some discussion about needing to eliminate this because there is such a drastic increase in the amount of kids with type 2 diabetes.
Hopefully this was somewhat clear and makes even a tiny bit of sense. But I know when I hear “Don’t you have diabetes? Doesn’t that mean you can’t eat _________” I eat more of whatever was said. I turn one cookie to two, one scoop of ice cream to two. So if you’re reading this and you know someone who is type 1, it’s really meaningful to discern which type you’re talking about.
I’m going to go enjoy my cookie now.
Talk with y’all tomorrow,
HP