What Causes Diabetes - 3 Rumors Revealed

What causes diabetes?  While there are a lot of things that can lead to diabetes, the actual cause is still unknown.  However, here are 3 previously held beliefs that are now determined to be false rumors that you can be assured are NOT what causes diabetes.

Sugar Does Not Cause Diabetes

While sugar itself does not cause diabetes, over-consumption of sugar can result in developing diabetes.  As you probably have heard many times, sugary foods are referred to as "empty calories" ... meaning that they have little if any nutritional value for the calories that you consume.  By eating a lot of these empty calories, your body is smart enough to know that it needs more calories to keep the fires burning.

So you continue to eat more and more until your body finally is satisfied.  But if too many of those additional calories are just empty and non-nutritional, then you will gain weight in an attempt to satisfy what your body needs.

Being overweight makes your cells more resistant to insulin which in turn increases your chances of contracting diabetes.  So while the answer to "What causes diabetes?" is definitely not sugar itself, too much sugar can ultimately lead to becoming a diabetic.

Stress Does Not Cause Diabetes

Just like sugar, stress does not cause diabetes but it can be a contributing factor.  If you are already a diabetic, stress will often aggravate your diabetes.  Stress can also trigger an auto-immune attack which could lead to the development of Type 1 diabetes.

Diabetes Is Not Contagious

Many people think diabetes is contagious because members of the same family often tend to have it.  Diabetes is a genetic condition so if you have the diabetes gene in your gene pool, then you have a better chance of becoming a diabetic.

And on the flip side, just because you have the gene doesn't mean you will develop the condition.  But if you know that some of your family members have it, you need to be very diligent in monitoring your health and being tested for diabetes on a regular basis.

So will we ever really know what causes diabetes?  Maybe, maybe not.  Eventually scientists will probably come up with more answers but in the meantime you can know that sugar, stress and germs will not automatically cause you to be a diabetic.