Diabetes is a growing epidemic in the industrialized world, especially where high fat diets prevail, such as the United States. It is caused by the bodies inability to provide enough insulin hormone for its needs – so it must be supplemented by the patient. Insulin is produced by the pancreas but when it stops or reduces its output below the bodies requirements, tissues are hampered from taking up glucose from the blood stream so they start to run out of energy to function.

There are two types of diabetes, juvenile diabetes is an absolute deficiency that happens early in life. It has a strong genetic factor and causes little or no insulin to be produced by the pancreas, causing blood sugar levels to rise in the bloodstream starving tissues for fuel. Juvenile diabetes cannot be delayed or prevented by nutritional habits. The second type of diabetes occurs normally after the age of 50 and is caused by a resistance of tissues to the effects of insulin, the pancreas produces normal amounts but the tissues have lost their ability to use it efficiently if at all. It has the same effect in increasing blood sugar levels in the blood steam causing tissues to starve for energy. Although this also has a strong genetic predisposition, it also has a limited dietary influence for its formation with obesity being one of the largest factors. It is not the sugar eaten the may lead to diabetes, it’s the amount of calories that are converted to fat.

Although diabetes has a strong genetic factor, its effects on the body can be regulated by a certain extent by diet. Once diabetes occurs, strict attention must be made by the patient regarding their blood sugar level and their nutrition, so as to not suffer its more serious secondary effects. These include kidney disease, blindness, gangrene, stroke, heart attack (angina) and atherosclerosis. The reason why obesity is a large risk factor for diabetes is because its onset is usually associated with high fat (lipid) levels in the blood.

Diets low in fat, high in starch that require 5-6 meals a day seem to be best for diabetics, fiber seems to play an important role in the stabilization of glucose levels into the blood as well.

References:
Winick, Myron (M.D.) et. al. The Columbia Encyclopedia of Nutrition. G. P. Putnam's Sons, NY, 1987
ISBN 0-399-13298-8