A Sugar Problem

Sugar Cubes

Type-2 diabetes is a sugar problem.  Before modern analysis it was identified by finding sugar in urine.  Sugar (a carbohydrate) turns to glucose in the human body and excess glucose plus insulin is the type-2 diabetes problem.  Now we have continuous glucose monitors (CGM) to see what’s happening with glucose in real time.  ALL carbohydrate except fiber, is turned into glucose in the body even whole grains.

From the early 20th century it became accepted that having diabetes dramatically raised the risk of heart disease.  Autopsies of diabetics showed advanced artery damage and this was happening much younger than in a non-diabetic person.  The American Diabetic Association (ADA) and the American Heart Association (AHA) state, “Adults with diabetes are 2 times more likely to have a heart attack or stroke, even if their diabetes is managed well”.

To clarify,  the people with the most risk of heart attack have a condition which is made worse by eating more carbohydrate (sugar).  But, sadly, the AHA recommend a diet that is higher in carbohydrate. The human body gets almost all its energy from either carbohydrate, which becomes glucose, or fat that becomes fatty acids.  Reduce one and you need to increase the other.   So if you cut back on carbohydrates to reduce your diabetes risk, then you must increase your fat intake.

But, for many years, we’ve been told that fat is the enemy.

Research since 1961 has identified that your triglyceride level is a better indicator of heart disease risk than your LDL cholesterol level.  This is now part of the testing for Metabolic Syndrome, which is an indicator of heart disease progression.  The 5 tests are waist circumference, HDL cholesterol, triglycerides, blood pressure and fasting blood glucose.   Once again, “blood glucose” or sugar in the blood is highlighted yet there is no LDL test.   In a surprising revelation, it was identified that triglycerides, which are fat in the blood, reduce when you eat saturated fat, but increase when you eat carbohydrates.

Yet we were told to base our diet mostly on carbohydrates!

It would seem that even with the revelations of the latest research we struggle to shed the old guidance, much of which was decided before we had the technology to really understand what was going on in our body.  Thank goodness for the latest dietary guidelines from the USA which massively reduced the recommended dietary levels for carbohydrate and moved fat up to where it belongs.  For thousands of years, humans have been getting most of their energy from fat.  Low fat is not healthy, because it increases carbohydrate levels!  Simply put, the fear of fat is unfounded, so long as it is a traditional fat and not a factory-made recent invention like vegetable oils.

Seek medical advice before dietary changes, particularly if on medication.  George Elder, Certified Health Coach, Author, Diploma in Nutrition.    The best thing you can do for your health is eat better.