What does fat have to do with diabetes?

The trend of diabetes in our country is worrying as the age of onset is getting younger. I would like to show you what causes diabetes.

Imagine that the lock is a muscle cell and muscle cells are powered by glucose. They’re in the blood but to power those muscle cells, the glucose needs to get into it, right. So we have little channels but they are closed. The key to these channels is insulin. Once that insulin key arrives and parks at the surface of the cell, it opens up these little channels and now glucose can enter the cell and everything is working great with insulin. So what could go wrong? If you list a whole lot of things that we are eating, you find a lot of fat in them.

What does fat have to do with diabetes?

Fat gets inside our muscle cells and causes insulin resistance because now the key doesn’t work. Now glucose can’t get through and is building outside your cells. Now when you eat anything with glucose in it, you eat an apple/ white bread/ rice, your sugar rises and you start thinking "oh no these foods aren’t good for me." But that’s not the problem if insulin is working. It’s the buildup of fat in the cells. This can be reversed and the insulin key can work again. One big thing is diet because cholesterol and saturated fats are high in animal sources and oils. This is a bit contrary to the common notion that sugar causes diabetes, right? But studies have proven this. Physical activity also plays a role. Inactivity promotes type 2 diabetes. Working your muscles more often and making them work harder improves their ability to use insulin and absorb glucose.

We are so focused on disease care instead of healthcare that we rely on pills to get our sense of health. If we have to take pills to get our sense of health, we are giving power to the drug but if we do something about our lifestyle, the root cause of chronic diseases, we regain the power!

References

1. Kelly, J., & Clayton, J. S. (2021). Foundations of Lifestyle Medicine Board Review Manual (3rd ed.). ACLM.

2. Bennett, B. (2023, March 24). Webinar: What causes type 2 diabetes (it’s not sugar!) and how to reverse it with Neal Barnard, MD, FACC. Forks Over Knives. https://www.forksoverknives.com/webinar/webinar-what-causes-type-2-diabetes-its-not-sugar-and-how-to-reverse-it-with-neal-barnard-md-facc/