Many years ago when I was growing up, people referred to diabetes as sugar diabetes, assuming that we get diabetes from eating too much sugar. All those years growing up in a little town called Wellington in the Western Cape Province of South Africa, I only knew of one person who became diabetic. She was a Jewish lady, the mother of two good friends of mine. She loved to eat boxed chocolates - in fact, she loved to read comics and eat chocolates. She certainly had plenty of sugar before she became diabetic. Both sugar and chocolate are quite addictive.
Here is an article that suggests that both fructose and sugar are equally bad for one and over-consumption can lead to insulin resistance, obesity and diabetes. The body craves these easy carbs because it increases dopamine levels, a feel good hormone. Maria explains things better than I can.
"This is how weight gain happens...
First, insulin tells your body to eat, particularly sugar or carbohydrates. If you follow cravings, insulin rewards you with extreme gratification (dopamine). Second, insulin escorts the energy from these foods, which is now blood sugar, to wherever it is needed in the body. It tells the liver to turn any extra carbohydrate into triglycerides, to be stored in the fat cells. And third, it orders the body to keep the food energy locked inside the fat cells, not burning it for energy, but storing it…increasing triglyceride levels!"
So there you have it - sugar and fructose are bad for us and can cause "sugar diabetes." How come diabetic organizations and health care people often say that people with diabetes can eat sugar. They suggest all they need to do is take medications or inject with insulin to account for it. Excuse me, I'm not overly bright, but isn't sugar the poison that made people with diabetes sick in the first place? - so why can they and should they still eat what proved to be poison to their bodies?
Here is another excerpt from that article that I found very interesting:
For those people who think that they can eat their sugar as long as they keep the calories low:
"Even on a calorie-restricted diet, he said, animals that eat too much sugar develop insulin resistance, an early sign of diabetes."
Confession: I enjoy a little honey each day in my yogurt. Here is an interesting site that compares honey to white sugar and extols the benefits of honey. I remember the Queen Mother said, " We are so fortunate to have honey." She lived to 101.