Diabetes Health Center

Tools & Resources

Font Size

10 Diabetes Diet Myths

Has someone told you that eating too much sugar causes diabetes? Or that you’ll have to give up all your favorite foods when you’re on a diabetes diet? Not true! There are plenty of myths about diabetes and food. We'll separate facts from fiction about diabetes here.

Recommended Related to Diabetes

3 Diabetes Tests You Must Have

Even before you notice symptoms, high blood sugar can damage parts of your body. That's why certain diabetes tests to check blood sugar control and to catch problems early are so crucial. But many patients aren't getting key diabetes tests at least annually, such as the hemoglobin A1c test, a dilated eye exam, and a foot exam. "If you look at the nationwide data, it's sobering," says Enrico Cagliero, MD, a diabetes researcher and assistant professor of medicine at Harvard Medical School. "A lot...

Read the 3 Diabetes Tests You Must Have article > >

Myth 1: Eating Too Much Sugar Causes Diabetes.

Simply eating too much sugar is unlikely to cause diabetes. Instead, diabetes begins when something disrupts your body's ability to turn the food you eat into energy.

To understand what happens when you have diabetes, keep these things in mind: Your body breaks down much of the food you eat into glucose, a type of sugar needed to power your cells. The pancreas makes a hormone called insulin, which helps the cells in the body use glucose for fuel.

Here are the most common types of diabetes and what we know about their causes:

Type 1 diabetes occurs when the pancreas cannot make insulin. Without insulin, sugar piles up in your blood. People with type 1 diabetes must take insulin to help get the sugar into the cells. Type 1 diabetes often starts in younger people or in children. Researchers say it may be triggered when something goes wrong with the immune system.
Type 2 diabetes happens when the pancreas does not make enough insulin, the insulin does not work properly, or both. Being overweight makes type 2 diabetes more likely. It can happen in a person of any age.
Gestational diabetes occurs during pregnancy in some women. Hormone changes during pregnancy prevent insulin from working properly. Women with gestational diabetes usually need to take insulin. The condition may disappear after the child is born.

Myth 2: There Are Too Many Rules in a Diabetes Diet.

If you have diabetes, you will need to plan your meals. But the general principle is simple: Choose foods that will work along with your activities and any medications to keep your blood sugar levels as close to normal as possible.

Will you need to make adjustments to what you now eat? Probably. But your new diet may not require as many changes as you think.