Why can obesity cause diabetes?
It is true that if you are obese you do not necessarily have to develop diabetes. But is also a fact that people who are obese are more prone to developing diabetes. There is also a genetic component to it, therefore if it runs in the family it is more likely you will have it. Its all about the the risk factors, and obesity is one of them, but its not definitive of developing diabetes. This is what we are taught at the moment so I can only comment on what we have been taught and this is confirmed by text books. From a molecular perspective, if you are obese you are more likely to have an increased amount of circulating free fatty acids, which when absorbed by cells are converted to a free fatty acid called ceramide. Ceramide has been shown to increase insulin resistance and therefore make diabetes worse. Therefore lowering the level of free fatty acids in your body will make your diabetic control better and this has also been proved. It is thought, by some scientists, to be a defense m
