The shorthand medical term for patients with diabetes type 2 and who are obese: ‘diabesity’ makes us think that everyone who is obese will get diabetes. Well, that is not actually true. Obese people don’t always get diabetes and people with diabetes are not always overweight. Here’s this week’s quote on it for you, which I thought was a good reminder of this fact…
Type 2 diabetes and obesity occur together so often that the portmanteau word “diabesity” is used as shorthand…….carrying excess total body fat cannot be the cause of type 2 diabetes (T2D) because not everyone who is overweight or has obesity develops type 2 diabetes. Furthermore, not everyone with type 2 diabetes is overweight. Changes in diet can drastically reduce the need for T2D medications — even while someone still carries a substantial amount of excess body fat.
Amy Berger, via Biotics Research
Key Points:
Being overweight does not cause type 2 diabetes.
Type 2 diabetes develops even in people at a “normal” body weight.
Some individuals who are overweight or have obesity have reduced risk for cardiometabolic complications (“the obesity paradox”).
Glycaemic control may improve almost immediately after bariatric surgery, during a fast, or within just days of adopting a low-carb or ketogenic diet — long before a significant amount of weight is lost.
Some diabetes medications (e.g., the TZD class) improve glycaemic control even while an individual gains body fat.
For more posts on diabetes, see here. And for obesity, see here. Avoid both by doing the Low GL Belly Fat Plan!