A Daily Dose of Insulin

There is a common stereotype that diabetics can no eat sugar or that sugar was the cause of their disease, however it is not entirely true. There are two types of diabetes; type 1 and type 2, and they are caused in different ways.

Type 1 diabetes is an autoimmune disease that typically gets triggered at some point in your life. It is more common for children to be diagnosed but it is possible for adults to be diagnosed as well. This type can not be cured or go away but it can be maintained by eating well and exercising, but type 1 diabetics will always need insulin for everything they eat as well as a long-lasting insulin that gets distributed in the body typically every hour.

While it is important to eat well as a diabetic, you are not completely restricted to not sugars or carbs, it just may make it more difficult for your body to stay in range sometimes. However, all you have to make sure if you are dosing for all carbs you are taking in.

For type 2 diabetics, it is different because it is not an auto immune disease, but your body has become insulin resistant. Insulin resistance means that if you are taking in too many carbs your body may have trouble providing enough insulin to manage your blood sugar. The result of fixing is maintaining with diet and exercise, and sometimes small doses of insulin.

The main difference between the two types is that type 1 diabetics bodies do not provide insulin anymore and type 2 diabetics bodies provide some. It may not be the amount that they need so they use other resources to keep their blood sugar in range. Also, type 1 diabetics have an autoimmune disease, so even if they wanted to, they may not be able to have a pancreatic transplant, but while it’s uncommon, type 2 diabetics can have a pancreatic transplant because their bodies won’t fight off the organ.