Does Eating Too Much Sugar Cause Diabetes?

It’s true that eating large amounts of added sugar can make you more likely to develop diabetes, but sugar intake is just one piece of the puzzle. Still, regularly eating lots of sugar can raise your risk.
Many other factors — including overall diet, lifestyle, and genetics — also affect your chance of developing diabetes.
This article reviews sugar’s role in developing diabetes and provides tips for preventing the disease.

What is diabetes?
Diabetes occurs when your body cannot effectively regulate blood sugar levels. This can happen when your pancreas stops producing enough insulin, your cells become resistant to insulin, or both.
Insulin is a hormone that moves sugar from your bloodstream and into your cells. If your body doesn’t make enough or you become insulin resistant, you can develop chronically high blood sugar levels.

High blood sugar levels over a long period can increase your risk of heart disease, nerve damage, and kidney damage, so it’s essential to keep them in check.
There are two primary types of diabetes:
• Type 1: This autoimmune disease happens when your immune system attacks your pancreas, destroying its ability to produce insulin.
• Type 2: When the pancreas stops producing enough insulin, your body’s cells no longer respond to the insulin it produces or both.
Type 1 diabetes is relatively rare, accounting for about 5–۱۰% of diabetes cases worldwide.

Type 2 diabetes — the focus of this article — accounts for more than 90% of diabetes cases. It’s primarily triggered by diet and lifestyle factors.
Does sugar increase your risk of diabetes?
According to research, regularly consuming sugar-sweetened beverages can increase your risk of type 2 diabetes.
Eating large amounts of sugar can also indirectly raise diabetes risk by contributing to weight gain and higher body fat — both of which are separate risk factors for developing diabetes.

To reduce the adverse effects of high sugar consumption, the 2020-2025 Dietary Guidelines for Americans recommend that no more than 10% of your total daily calories come from added sugars.
Natural sugars don’t have the same effect
While eating large amounts of added sugars has been linked to diabetes, the same is not true for natural sugars.

Natural sugars are found in fruits and vegetables and have not been added during manufacturing or processing. Because they’re combined with fiber, water, and other nutrients, they’re digested more slowly and are less likely to spike your blood sugar.

Fruits and vegetables also tend to contain far less sugar by weight than many processed foods, so it’s easier to keep your consumption in check.
Fruit juice
Research is mixed on whether drinking 100% fruit juice increases diabetes risk.

Even when natural juice is high in sugar and low in fiber, it can spike your blood sugar. However, combining it with fat, fiber, and protein sources may prevent blood sugar spikes.
The American Diabetes Association recommends replacing fruit juice with water or calorie-free beverages.

Natural sweeteners
Though some natural sweeteners like honey and maple syrup are not as heavily processed as table sugar, they are still relatively pure sources of sugar and contain almost no fiber.