Question

• Does eating carbohydrates CAUSE diabetes?

Answer 1

Diabetes mellitus is a condition characterized by the increased amount of blood glucose level in the circulating blood. There are two types of diabetes mellitus classified according to the cause, Type 1 or insuline dependent diabetes mellitus and type 2 or non- insulin dependent diabetes mellitus.

Insulin is an endocrine hormone which helps the cells to absorb glucose from the blood.The type one diabetes mellitus is caused by the decreased production of insulin by the pancreatic beta cells. The cells are not able to absorb enough amount of glucose from the blood in the absence of insulin which leads to accumulation of glucose in the circulation. The type two diabetes is caused by the cellular resistance to insulin. Even their is enough amount of insulin is produced, the cells become resistant to them. So the cellular absorption of glucose will not take place and the glucose will stay in blood leads to hyperglycemia.

Eating too much carbohydrate by a person with diabetes can increase the level of glucose in the blood and can leads to worsening of the condition. The higher amount od carbohydrate and fat intake can leads to obesity, which is one of the risk factors of development of type 2 diabetes mellitus. Thus, eating carbohydrate will not directly cause diabetes mellitus, however it can leads to risk factors of development of diabetes mellitus.