Does eating too many carbs lead to diabetes?

edited earlier posts to save space...

Its weird how you know exactly what causes t2 diabetes when no research seems to have pinpointed an exact cause yet. How does an athletic low weight person still become prediabetic and will likely be type 2 diabetic then? They're not overfat or skinny fat so what else can be the cause?

Researchers are learning more and more about viral infections and their ability to cause diabetes (and other diseases). Here's an interesting study, looking at the link between HSV-1 and Type 2 diabetes. There is also research showing a significant relationship between chronic HepC and Type 2 diabetes.

HSV-1 study: http://care.diabetesjournals.org/content/28/2/435.full

The thinking is that the viral infection causes chronic inflammation that damages the pancreas. "The inflammation related with abnormal function of β-cells and mitochondrial dysfunction after HSV-1 infection might be helpful to elucidate the association of HSV-1 infection with type 2 diabetes observed in this study."

Not saying you have Herpes... LOL. Just saying that there are potential triggers for diabetes other than obesity. However, in the US, more than half of all diabetics are overweight, while the amount of people with diabetes that are normal weight is much less than that.

Unfortunately... there's a study that says there's a higher mortality weight for those diabetics at normal weight. Potentially because their diabetes is not managed as aggressively. http://jama.jamanetwork.com/article.aspx?articleid=1309174

My overly simplistic morale of the story:
If you are overweight with a family history of diabetes... lose weight to avoid/delay the onset of diabetes.
If you are normal weight with a family history of diabetes... try to keep your weight in the normal range to avoid/delay the onset of diabetes.
If you are normal weight and are pre-diabetic or diabetic... make sure you manage your diabetes aggressively. Also... I'd be following the research on the relationship between diet and mitochondrial repair.

From what I've read about hsv-1 is that about 90% of the population has it but not everyone gets cold sores. Its pretty much as common as herpes zoster aka chicken pox. I'd have to read more into your links when I get home but I'm not sure if that could be the cause

From someone who just spent the past 3 years working with my mother's doctors and learning everything I could about Diabetes, I can comment on this question with some level of knowledge.
When you eat carbs, they are broken down into sugar in your body. Insulin is required to process that sugar and further break it down where your body can use it for fuel. If the sugar doesn't get broken down, it crystalizes and makes its way thru your blood stream and organs like tiny shards of glass, cutting and scraping as it goes thru, leaving scarring in its place.

The amount of carbs you eat and the rate those carbs break down in your body, determines the rate that your blood sugar level rises, and how much insulin is needed to break down the sugar. Repeated high amounts of sugar in your blood stresses your pancreas by forcing it to release higher and higher amounts of insulin. At some point, your body will become insulin resistant, and your pancreas can no longer provide enough insulin to break down the sugar in your system. At what level your body will get to this point, can be based on many factors, including genetics, and activity levels.

People who have a certain body type, a higher BF%, and are more sedentary, can reach the level of insulin resistance quicker than others may reach that point. So some people can get away with eating higher amounts of carbs and sugars for quite a while, but eventually if they continue to over stress their insulin system, they are at risk of developing Diabetes.

Eating higher fiber carbs can slow down the breakdown into sugar, allowing more time for the pancreas to release the insulin in lower amounts. Exercise is also very beneficial in preventing Diabetes.

It is very important to get your sugar levels checked regularly, and if your doctor is concerned with your number being too high, then immediately change your eating habits. It is not just a "little high sugar" that you can simply take a pill and all will be fine.
Pills turn into shots, and shots turn into more shots, and that turns into kidney failure, and dialysis, and after years of ignoring your doctor's advice, your family gets to watch you die a slow and painful death.

So does eating too many carbs lead to Diabetes? The answer is YES. The question is just HOW many carbs are too many for YOU.

This is about Type 2 Diabetes, NOT Type 1, which is an inherited disease that is not caused by diet.

people fail to recognize that fats/genetics is what causes diabetes in most cases, not sugars or carbs. read up on it!

^^^ genetics and obesity lead to diabetes, not eating too many carbs. I'm at a healthy weight but still at high risk b/c it's so prevalent in my family, including Dad, who has Type II adult onset and is about the only case of adult onset diabetes I've EVER seen that wasn't caused by obesity. But his dad was Type I insulin-dependent so that explains that.

Or is that just a myth?

The reason I added about the food consumption is because of the feeling of hunger that people who are diabetic have when their blood sugar isn't controlled, hence the weight gain. I am not saying that everyone that eats that way will become diabetic but what I am saying is that when someone's blood sugar is uncontrolled that they are constantly hungry, even immediately after they eat. This can cause them to overeat because the cells, not getting the food they need, sends a message to the brain that they are still hungry, which sends message to the stomach to growl. I experienced the hunger pains right after I ate just before I was diagnosed so I know this firsthand. Just imagine this, you just ate a big dinner, are stuffed, and not 5 minutes after you finish the meal, your stomach is growling and hurting like you haven't eaten at all. That is what it is like, not fun. This is where the over consumption of food comes into play. It's not because a diabetic chooses to overeat but the body is saying feed me even though a meal was just eaten. If you haven't experienced this feeling, don't assume that a person with this going on can go without eating, it would be similar to a normal person who hasn't eaten at all and their stomach is growling, upset and hurting. They eat as do people who have diabetes and don't know it, but it is a totally different scenario. I am gonna shut up now, have posted enough on this subject.

and what can we do with the theory/possibility that diabetes was an adaptation to the last ice age?