Why would obesity increase the risk of developing type 2 diabetes?
People who are diabetic are not necessarily obese. Type 2 diabetes is associated with insulin resistance. Insulin is an important hormone that delivers glucose (sugar) to our cells. When a person is overweight, the cells in the body become less sensitive to the insulin that is released from the pancreas. There is some evidence that fat cells are more resistant to insulin than muscle cells. If a person has more fat cells than muscle cells, then the insulin becomes less effective overall, and glucose remains circulating in the blood instead of being taken in to the cells to be used as energy. No – eating sugary foods will not cause you to get diabetes. Humans cannot live without having sugar called glucose in their blood. Too much glucose, however, attaches to a variety of proteins in the body and harms them. Uncontrolled diabetes is characterized by too much glucose in the bloodstream. This excess glucose then glycates with — or sticks to — a protein called hemoglobin, which carries o
