So, you’ve got “the sugar diabetes,” and you aren’t allowed to enjoy food anymore, which is just terrible. What’s that about?

The sugar diabetes is medically known as “diabetes mellitus.” There is another form of diabetes, called “diabetes insipidus,” but it is rare and will not be discussed here. Sugar diabetes is further divided into two different types. The most common type is nearly always avoidable and even reversible, but still is rapidly becoming more common. That’s a problem as it can be very harmful to your health.

How’s It Work?

Think of diabetes (the sugar one) like pumping gas in your car. Your car needs gas to run, and your car stores this energy source in the gas tank. When you run out of gas, you get more from the gas pump. Additionally, there’s a little thing that you need to remove in order to get gas from the pump and into your gas tank—the gas cap. The gas cap regulates when gas can enter the gas tank. Easy so far, right? Let’s add one complication. Some gas caps have a lock and need a key, as a safety feature. 

Still tracking? Awesome! Well, if you can understand the concept of a locking gas cap then you can understand diabetes. 

Like your car engine needs gas to run, your body needs sugar to run. Without gas, your car is not going anywhere. The same is true regarding your body without sugar. However, just as too much gas can flood a car engine, your body also has trouble with too much sugar.

FYI: Sugar is part of a larger group of foods named “carbohydrates,” or just “carbs” for short. Carbs include sugar, breads, pasta, fries, and much more. Your body turns any carb you eat into sugar once you digest it. So diabetics need to watch out for all carbs, not only straight sugar.

Type 1 Diabetes

Let’s go deeper. Remember that locking gas cap? Let’s say you lost the key to it. Now the gas tank is locked up and you can’t get any more gas into it. This is called “Type 1” diabetes.

Your body has many tiny gas tanks, called “cells.” Like your gas tank, cells need to be opened to let sugar enter so that the body’s engine (metabolism) can use that sugar. There is a key in your body called “insulin” that unlocks your cells. So just as the gas cap key opens the gas cap to allow you to fill the tank up with gas, insulin opens up your cells so you can supply them with sugar.

Normally your body makes its own insulin. However, in Type 1 diabetes it doesn’t. Essentially the body lost the key to your cells, like losing the key to your gas cap. To fix this, people with type 1 diabetes need to give themselves insulin (the key) to allow sugar into their cells so the body can have energy and keep working. Type 1 diabetes is usually something that you’re born with. So these people need to take insulin as medication from a very early age because their bodies don’t make it. If you’ve ever seen a diabetic take their insulin (an injection) you know they have to be very careful. If they take too much or not enough it can be very harmful.

Type 2 Diabetes

There is a second type of diabetes, and it is unfortunately becoming more and more common. Imagine our locking gas cap again. If you use it too often, the key to the gas cap will eventually break or become worn down and no longer able to unlock the gas tank. This is Type 2 diabetes.

You are not born with Type 2 diabetes (typically) but you develop it over time because of a poor diet and a lack of exercise. If your diet includes too many carbs (sugar, fries, bread, pasta, etc.), your body has to use insulin (the key) to allow sugar (gas) to flow into your cells (gas tank) a lot more often than it was meant to be used. Just like a physical key getting worn down over time, insulin begins to not work as well if it’s overused. This is called “insulin resistance.” Your body no longer responds appropriately to insulin, or put another way, the key no longer works.

Due to this resistance, taking insulin does not work for Type 2 diabetics like it does Type 1; although in severe cases of type 2, insulin is needed as well. There are many other medications for Type 2 diabetes that attempt to “repair the key” or ”change the lock” so that sugar can enter the cells. By far, one of the best treatments is exercise and a healthy diet as this will allow the body to “repair the key” naturally.

Unlike Type 1 diabetes, Type 2 is often completely avoidable and even reversible (to some extent) if you develop it. That’s great news! However, we are becoming increasingly sedentary and often eat poorly. This lifestyle positions us to develop type 2 diabetes sooner and faster. Therefore what was previously a disease only seen in adults is unfortunately becoming increasingly common in children.

If my body needs sugar, why is high blood sugar bad? 

Good question. So, your body can’t get sugar (which it needs) into its cells for energy because it either lost the key (Type 1) or the key no longer works well (Type 2). Therefore, most of the sugar you eat is just flowing around with your blood because your body can’t put it anywhere useful. Imagine just pouring gas on your car, or around it instead of into the gas tank. Not helpful, right?

Well that’s what diabetes is like. Without the sugar actually getting into the cell (gas into the gas tank) it’s not only useless but harmful to other parts of your body. This high level of sugar in your blood leads to things like high blood pressure, obesity, blood vessel damage, heart attack, stroke, poor eyesight, loss of feeling, and in severe cases loss of toes or feet. 

Why am I peeing so much?

The origin of the word “diabetes” means “sweet drain,” so it’s literally named after the excess sugary urine that diabetics have. Your body can’t put the sugar into your cells to use it for energy and keeping too much in your blood is harmful. Therefore, it tries to fix the problem by getting rid of the sugar. The body does this by dumping it into your pee. This is a common reason your doctor has you pee in a cup, to check it for sugar.

Another way the body tries to fix the problem is by making you thirsty. If you drink more water, that waters down the sugar in your blood. Think of adding more water to Kool-Aid. The problem is that many diabetics will drink sugary drinks when they’re thirsty. That only makes things worse as it just adds more sugar that the body needs to get rid of, causing you to pee even more. Thus, the endless cycle of being thirsty and peeing a lot. 

And before you ask, artificially sweetened sugar-free drinks aren’t a perfect answer either. Although we don’t understand the specifics yet, we do know that artificial sweeteners are associated with many of the same harmful effects as real sugar over time. Artificial sweeteners seem to be better in the short term, but consuming them often over months and years seems to be bad for your health as well.

Basically, we all need to try and drink more water.

I hope this post helps you understand more about diabetes (the sugar kind) and why it’s very important that you follow the instructions of your doctor. I know it’s terrible to have to avoid all those tasty foods and snacks. It’s not because your doctor is mean. They truly just want to see you thrive!

Lastly, if you have been told by your doctor that you have diabetes and need to drastically change your diet; it CAN be done! And you can even enjoy your new diet! You can even change the types of foods that you crave over time. I’m not going to lie to you, it is probably going to be very hard for a while. Some of the best things in life take hard work. But also know that you’re not alone. There are plenty of resources out there for you. Your doctor (or PA/NP) is there to support you and I’m sure they’d be happy to point you towards some resources that will be helpful to you on your new adventure to enjoying good health!

Learn more, stay humble.