Can I get diabetes from eating too much sugar?

The short answer is no. The risk of type 2 diabetes is increased if you are overweight (so no worries there), have a family history, are inactive (again no worries on this front), or eat a high GI diet. Sugar content of the diet or individual foods is not related to GI and in fact many foods high in starch rather than sugar are high GI. You can read more about the myth that sugar causes diabetes here http://ginews.blogspot.com.au/2010/07/busting-food-myths-with-nicole-senior.html
Enjoying a high fibre diet and including good polyunsaturated fats appears to be protective.
Having said all this, your diet may improve by being more seolective about the “desserts” you eat. Good options are fruit, low-fat yoghurt, custard and ice cream, nuts or wholegrains- or any combination of these. A nice thing to try is fresh seasonal frut served with low-fat yoghurt with a sprinkle of toasted muesli and nuts- a healthy parfait that's really delicious. In winter a healthy crumble is lovely: stewed fruit topped with toasted muesli and nuts warmed briefly under the grill and served with a dollop of low-fat custard-Yum! Both these options are low GI. You can read more about GI here http://www.glycemicindex.com/

No, there isn't a direct relationship between eating too much sugar and diabetes. Type I diabetes is caused by genetics and unknown factors that trigger the onset of the disease and type II diabetes is caused by genetics and lifestyle factors. However, we do know that being overweight does increase your risk of developing Type II diabetes. In addition, if you are constantly consuming more than your body's energy requirements, whether this energy comes from sugar or from fat, it will lead to weight gain and increase your risk of diabetes. If you have a history of diabetes in your family, eating a healthy, balanced meal plan and regular exercise are recommended, to manage your weight and reduce your risk of diabetes.

No. Sugar doesn't cause diabetes. It's quite simplistic to put a cause or relationship, and we can't really - studies don't show a cause or relationship between too much sugar and diabetes. However, diabetes is a condition where your body can't manage your blood sugar levels very well. So, excess sugar is obviously going to put strain on the system.

A healthy body, no matter what your sugar intake is, will still be able to manage healthy levels. But if this is prolonged over a long time plus there are other risk factors such as your family history, obesity, high blood pressure, etc., they're also risk factors for Type II diabetes. I'm saying that it doesn't cause diabetes, but it is also a good idea to make sure that you moderate your sugar intake. But definitely a little bit of sugar every now and then as a treat doesn't hurt, so everything in moderation.

It turns out that feeding fructose (a form of sugar) to rats can induce metabolic syndrome and increase insulin resistance.

What is more interesting is that if these rats are given probiotics, the effect is blocked, suggesting that there dietary fructose causes changes in the gut bacteria zoo (microbiome), and the balance can be reversed by probiotics (1).

This is by no means definitive evidence that eating high fructose can lead to diabetes in susceptible individuals, or eating lots of probiotics can prevent diabetes. It simply means this is an area of research.

In fact there are some studies looking at using probiotics to prevent gestational diabetes (2).

Regards,
Dr Kevin Lee
BSc(Med), MBBS, MHS(Clin Epi), FRACP
Consultant Physician Endocrinologist.

1. Park D-Y. Dual probiotic strains suppress high fructose-induced metabolic syndrome. World J Gastroenterol. Baishideng Publishing Group Inc; 2013;19(2):274. 
2. Barrett HL, Dekker Nitert M, Conwell LS, Callaway LK. Probiotics for preventing gestational diabetes. Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews 2014, Issue 2. Art. No.: CD009951. DOI: 10.1002/14651858.CD009951.pub2.

the 3 Fs are risk factors for type 2 diabetes.

Family History

Over Forty

Being Fat (sorry - overweight)

You can lose weight but the other 2 are out of your control unfortunately.

There is no evidence that eating too much sugar can give you diabetes. If you are overweight you are at risk of getting Type 2 diabetes, but as you are slim and fit this is not the case. However, a high sugar diet is loaded with empty calories that translates into you not getting all your nutrients from more wholesome food. Sugar is addictive – the more you eat the more you crave, so I suggest you cut out all the sugar and replace it with sweet foods that satisfy your sweet tooth but also have nutrient value eg. dates, dried figs, mangoes, yoghurt. Basically you should limit the foods and drinks containing added sugars. You should have a balanced, healthy diet which involves eating a wide variety of nutritious foods, in the right amounts, while occasionally being able to enjoy small amounts of ‘discretionary choices’. It is about taking a balanced approach that is sustainable over the long term. You admit to eating too much sugar so you should make a concerted effort to reduce the amount you are consuming.

The Dietetic Association encourages you to eat better and to limit foods that contain added sugar with little nutritional value (such as confectionary, sugar-sweetened soft drinks, fruit drinks, energy and sports drinks). You should be trying to develop better lifestyle eating patterns.

Great question, and really addresses the Fat Vs Fit debate...

When we digest sugar the body responds by releasing insulin (the hormone that gets your blood sugar level down). Over time consistent exposure to insulin spikes can make the cells insulin resistant), similar if you live near a train line your body 'gets used to it' and no longer responds. This is a precursor to diabetes. 

You should also consider the other negative metabolic impacts of sugar including inflammation, poor appetite control and liver stress.

Lifestyle choices , ethnicity and genetics cause T2 diabetes (not sugar or fructose).

It all starts with insulin resistance (IR), which occurs well before T2 diabetes is diagnosed. This is when the body cells do not respond that well to insulin, to let the glucose go from the blood stream into the body cells , so the glucose can be used as energy. This causes the blood glucose to rise. Other metabolic changes also occur one of which is a higher amount of insulin being secreted in response to the higher blood glucose levels but IR is there already.

While we know some information about insulin resistance we do not completely know  it all. People have insulin resistance well before T2 diabetes is diagnosed. Some ethnic groups are genetically IR, some medications cause this. What we do know is that some lifestyle choices cause IR, those that cause obesity especially central obesity, related to eating too much processed carbohydrates (as Rebecca has said), saturated fats, cigarette smoking and inactivity.  Some research suggests that IR may be present in some genetically predetermined slim people but the blood glucose levels only rise in an environment of inactivity, poor diet  and high central obesity as visceral fat causes hormones which cause IR.

The role of fructose is very fashionable and controversial , as most of the studies are done in rats with very high fructose concentrations, well above what humans consume. So while fructose has been shown to cause IR in the rat we cannot translate that into humans. What we do know is sugar sweetened beverages being a processed carbohydrate drink , having both fructose and glucose should be avoided as this causes central obesity. Humans very rarely eat fructose in isolation ( except in the lab) as sugar is both fructose and glucose or at the levels used  in the rat model. We also know for some, fructose is poorly metabolised and passed out into the toilet before it even gets to the liver. Liver enzymes are raised with IR especially ALT but it is always related to many lifestyle choices and metabolic factors and really you can't put this done to one thing only.

Exercise improves IR.  Studies show that after exercising, muscles become more sensitive to insulin, reversing IR and lowering blood glucose levels. Exercise also helps muscles absorb more glucose without the need for insulin. The more muscle a body has, the more glucose it can burn to control blood glucose levels.

Choose a Mediterranean type diet that has minimal processed foods, moderate amounts of monounsaturated fats, more plant based foods that are more  whole.

Congratulations on maintaining your weight and fitness. However, as with most health conditions, your weight and fitness is only part of the story!

It may or may not be OK to eat dessert twice a day. It obviously depends on the choices of dessert (for example apple crumble versus apple danish) and portion size (for example a large muffin versus a small muffin). It also depends on whether these desserts are taking the place of a more nutritious meal/snack which may affect general health in other ways.

Avoiding diabetes goes beyond focusing on just the amount of sugar you eat. It is important to take into account your whole diet and whether there are other foods/eating habits that you can change to lower your risk of developing glucose intolerance/diabetes in the long term.

All the best!