Eating sugar does not cause diabetes...

It's Diabetes Week from 13-19th June and  charity Diabetes UK are hard at work busting some of the Diabetes myths to raise awareness and bring clarity to misinformation and old fashioned untruths about food and what to eat.

Eating sugar does not cause diabetes. Diabetes is caused by a combination of genetic and environmental factors. However, eating a diet high in fat and sugar can cause you to become overweight which increases your risk of developing Type 2 diabetes.

Libby Dowling, Diabetes UK Care Adviser has experienced the effects this myth can have. She explains, ‘As a paediatric nurse my own experience around diabetes myths has been families thinking you can't eat sweets if you have the condition. On diagnosis this belief can lead to added stress and upset, especially in younger children. But this myth is simply not true.’   

Cathy Moulton agrees that dispelling the myths about the condition will make a huge difference to the newly diagnosed: ‘I’ve had people come to me as a newly diagnosed person with diabetes in disbelief because they are a healthy weight and believed you have to be overweight to get diabetes.’

Cathy continues, ‘You are at increased risk of Type 2 diabetes if your waist measurement is over 94cm (men), 90cm (South Asian men), 80cm (all women), but it is just one of the risk factors associated with Type 2 diabetes. You can still develop the condition if your weight is normal but you have other risk factors. There is nothing you can do to prevent Type 1 diabetes.

Read more Diabetes Myths on the Diabetes website