Sugary Drinks CAN cause Diabetes ?!?

Dr Bernstein, an MD, is a T1 diabetic who left his career of engineering to become a medical doctor so he could devote his life to improving the treatments of diabetics. His work is slowly being emulated around the world.

Anyways, he states (In Diabetes Solutions) that these are the possible causes of T2 diabetes or insulin resistance:
Inheritance
Dehydration
Infection
Obesity
High blood glucose
High triglycerides
Inflammation (from mesententeric fat, autoimmune disease, foods)

I believe pop played a role in my development of pre-diabetes. I switched to regular pop over two years ago because I thought aspertame should be avoided (dumb move - I think I should have just dropped pop). I also did a low dose round of steroids for autoimmune issues (another mistake for me in my mind since steroids can induce diabetes in some people). I think pop, and poor eating with too many sweets (which is my problem food), combined with the steroids and my autoimmune disease got me to where I am; my blood glucose started being high.

I'm not obese, had no major infections (like cavities or injuries), do not have a strong family history of diabetes (beyond an aunt and uncle), am not chronically dehydrated, and my triglycerides are slightly lower than the normal range. All that is left as a cause (for me) is high high blood glucose (from a high sugar diet), steroids (which was low) and inflammtion.

I belive a high sugar (and carb) diet can lead to insulin resistance (diabetes T2). JMO.

ManiacalLaugh wrote: »

Arg - as someone with a diabetic family, this type of misinformation is beginning to get downright offensive. No, sugar doesn't cause diabetes - and anyone who says it does is either misinformed, or attempting to generalize things in order to simplify an explanation for the layman.

Sugar doesn't cause Type 1 or Type 2. What it does do is throw off your blood glucose numbers enough to where you begin to feel the effects of a disease you were genetically prone to have in the first place. It exacerbates things. And for many people, sugary drinks and binges make their symptoms apparent for the first time. Hence the wrong belief that sugar causes diabetes. Could it "knock" someone into the full fledged disease who, though genetically prone to it, might've been able to avoid pancreatic issues if they hadn't indulged? That's an argument I'm willing to accept with some evidence, but no - to repeat - sugar doesn't cause diabetes.

This
This is how it was explained to me also. Genetic.
Is high blood pressure genetic also?
and I am talking about people who are not obese, maybe a little overweight.

rushfive wrote: »

ManiacalLaugh wrote: »

Arg - as someone with a diabetic family, this type of misinformation is beginning to get downright offensive. No, sugar doesn't cause diabetes - and anyone who says it does is either misinformed, or attempting to generalize things in order to simplify an explanation for the layman.

Sugar doesn't cause Type 1 or Type 2. What it does do is throw off your blood glucose numbers enough to where you begin to feel the effects of a disease you were genetically prone to have in the first place. It exacerbates things. And for many people, sugary drinks and binges make their symptoms apparent for the first time. Hence the wrong belief that sugar causes diabetes. Could it "knock" someone into the full fledged disease who, though genetically prone to it, might've been able to avoid pancreatic issues if they hadn't indulged? That's an argument I'm willing to accept with some evidence, but no - to repeat - sugar doesn't cause diabetes.

This
This is how it was explained to me also. Genetic.
Is high blood pressure genetic also?
and I am talking about people who are not obese, maybe a little overweight.

Genetics plays a role but not for everybody. Not me. I have two obese elderly relaives who have T2D. Considering 1 in 10 adults have T2D, and 1 in 4 seniors are T2D, my famial risk is probably pretty low. I am guessing that most people, of african, latin or european decent probably have at a relative with T2D. Just guessing.

Low blood pressure was part of the reason I was put on steroids. I don't think high blood pressure causes T2D (could be wrong) but I think it is often co-occuring.

FatFreeFrolicking wrote: »

rushfive wrote: »

ManiacalLaugh wrote: »

Arg - as someone with a diabetic family, this type of misinformation is beginning to get downright offensive. No, sugar doesn't cause diabetes - and anyone who says it does is either misinformed, or attempting to generalize things in order to simplify an explanation for the layman.

Sugar doesn't cause Type 1 or Type 2. What it does do is throw off your blood glucose numbers enough to where you begin to feel the effects of a disease you were genetically prone to have in the first place. It exacerbates things. And for many people, sugary drinks and binges make their symptoms apparent for the first time. Hence the wrong belief that sugar causes diabetes. Could it "knock" someone into the full fledged disease who, though genetically prone to it, might've been able to avoid pancreatic issues if they hadn't indulged? That's an argument I'm willing to accept with some evidence, but no - to repeat - sugar doesn't cause diabetes.

This
This is how it was explained to me also. Genetic.
Is high blood pressure genetic also?
and I am talking about people who are not obese, maybe a little overweight.

Genetics does not play a role for everyone with diabetes.

Yes, I realize genetics is not the cause for everyone. History in the family but nobody obese (only slightly overweight.....so told genetic.

What causes diabetes? genetic, overweight, ???

To my understanding, there is no one cause for type 2 diabetes. There's a number of factors that figure into the equation, and high sugar consumption is only one of them. I don't think doctors have a good, concrete answer to what causes it. All they can say is these are factors that can contribute, but they don't know how much or which combinations are worse. Being overweight contributes. Genetics contribute. High sugar diets contribute. Lack of exercise contributes. I'm sure there are more I'm not thinking of. But it's not just one thing.

brianpperkins wrote: »

If sugar in drinks is causing diabetes then why are countries with higher sugar consumption than the US generating lower diabetes rates? Truly causal relationships hold up across arbitrary lines on a map.

yarwell wrote: »

brianpperkins wrote: »

If sugar in drinks is causing diabetes then why are countries with higher sugar consumption than the US generating lower diabetes rates? Truly causal relationships hold up across arbitrary lines on a map.

That's misleading. You should have included diabetes statistics as well. US only ranks 57th in the world for prevalence of diabetes% and many of the countries that rank much higher have a much lower sugar consumption.

yarwell wrote: »

I don't have diabetes data to hand, but it's clear the US tops the sugars and soda leagues. So I don't know where the countries with greater consumption but lower diabetes are, which was the comment I repnded to.

Edit - 2010 OECD diabetes prevalence, US second to Mexico -

Here is the full list for your preference.
http://www.indexmundi.com/facts/indicators/SH.STA.DIAB.ZS/rankings

US and Brazil indeed top the sugar list (and not only on the limited graphs here, but on more complete lists) but neither tops the diabetes list or even comes close.

My point is, diabetes is a complicated disease. Seeking a single "evil" to pin it on is futile. All we could do is observe a correlation with certain aspects and deem them as "interesting" without jumping to conclusions on causation.

Liftng4Lis wrote: »

psulemon wrote: »

Link? If someone drinks 3 regular sodas a day, that is like 900 calories of soda. That is a good amount of calories to drink.

So it could be... increased calories --> increases chances of being obese --> increase chance of diabetes..

YOU, I like!

Except it doesnt exlcude the other possibility that a diet high on sugar itself can lead to an increased level of diabetes, which is what they are investigating. the study appears to take whether people were obese or not into account. Nobody is arguing that being obese increases the chance of getting diabetes, thats accpeted.

MoiAussi93 wrote: »

zyxst wrote: »

I like how "increases risk of" = "will cause".

It doesn't mean "will cause". But it certainly does not mean "doesn't cause". The point is there is some link that they need to find out more about before something definitive can be said. Until then, every individual is free to decide their own tolerance for risk. If you feel it is low risk and are comfortable with that, keep drinking sugary drinks. If you want to give yourself the best odds possible (even if a small difference) of avoiding diabetes, stop drinking them. I don't see why this is controversial.

Driving a vehicle increases one's risk 100% to get into an automobile accident versus one that doesn't drive. Driving safely, obeying driving rules and being aware of others lowers risk considerably, but if one wants to avoid a personal car accident, then the best option would be not to drive at all. Hopefully this person is within walking distance to work or is financially independent.

It doesn't have to be cut and dry to increase risk on just about anything. People risk living in tornado alley, or Florida where's there hurricanes, etc.
I truly doubt consuming a sugary drink a day is going to be any higher risk to one's health if they aren't overweight or aren't dealing with metabolic syndrome. People who are truly at risk would be comparable to a driver who drives a car that has no tail lights, no seat belts, bad brakes, etc. meaning they shouldn't to begin with.

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Been in fitness for 30 years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition