Type 1 diabetes myths and misconceptions
Myth: Type 1 diabetes is caused by your lifestyle
This is a fundamental difference between type 1 and type 2 diabetes. As an autoimmune condition, type 1 isn’t caused or impacted by your lifestyle. This means lifestyle factors, including changes to your diet, weight, or exercise routine, make no difference to your risk of developing type 1 diabetes.
Myth: Type 1 diabetes can be reversed by making lifestyle changes
While following a health diet and getting plenty of exercise play an important role in how some people manage their type 1 diabetes, there is no known cure. People with type 1 rely on insulin injections throughout their lives.
Type 2 diabetes myths and misconceptions
Myth: Type 2 diabetes isn’t as serious as type 1 diabetes
Both type 2 and type 1 diabetes are serious conditions and there is no such thing as ‘mild diabetes’. Regular treatment and making effective lifestyle changes when living with type 2 diabetes can reduce the risk of complications, although they are still possible.
Myth: Type 2 diabetes is caused by eating too much sugar
People often wrongly attribute high blood glucose levels to excessive sugar consumption. Type 1 diabetes is not affected by lifestyle factors like diet at all. Risk factors for type 2 diabetes include – but are not limited to – weight gain and inactivity.
People gain weight by consuming too many calories, and while some of those calories can come from sugar, eating too much sugar is not a direct cause of diabetes. To reduce the risk of developing type 2, it’s more important not to consume more calories than the body needs.
Myth: Type 2 diabetes is solely caused by being overweight
While being overweight or obese is a big risk factor for developing type 2 diabetes, there are many other factors. Some can be controlled through lifestyle changes while others can’t. They include:
Getting older.
Having a family history of diabetes.
Being an ‘apple’ rather than a ‘pear’ – in other words, excess weight accumulating around your midriff.
Leading an inactive lifestyle.
Myth: You will always know if you have type 2 diabetes
During the early stages, the symptoms can be much less noticeable than for type 1. Therefore, it is possible to have type 2 diabetes without knowing it.
Diabetes myths and misconceptions
Many myths are the same for both type 1 and 2 diabetes.
Myth: Diabetes means you can’t have sugar
One of the most common misconceptions is that living with diabetes means not being able to eat any sugar. However, people are still able to enjoy a wide variety of foods that contain sugar.
In fact, a lot of food choices that contain sugar – such as fruits – can form part of a healthy balanced diet. Most fruits have a low to medium glycaemic index, meaning that they do not lead to a sharp rise in blood glucose levels.
However, carbohydrates – both starchy and sugary – are what cause your blood glucose to rise. Reducing both sugary and starchy carbohydrates – and particularly ‘refined’ carbs like white flour/sugar/bread – can make a big difference to your blood glucose control.
Myth: Diabetes means you can’t drink alcohol
It is true that alcohol interferes with blood glucose levels and that it could increase the risk of having a ‘hypo’ (also known as hypoglycemia), where blood glucose levels drop too low. This occurs because alcohol affects the liver’s ability to release extra glucose into the blood.
However, people may not need to cut out alcohol from their lives entirely, and not all medication makes them vulnerable to hypos.
Myth: Diabetes means you can’t be physically active
While it is recommended that those with diabetes are evaluated for additional health complications before establishing an exercise routine, they are actively encouraged to stay physically active
The health benefits of exercise are important for people with both type 1 and type 2 diabetes:
It can reduce the risk of complications associated with diabetes, such as heart disease
It can help the body to use insulin better.
It can help to improve cholesterol (blood fats), which helps to protect against problems like heart disease.
It can help with joints and flexibility.
It can energies and improve sleep
It can reduce stress and improve low mood.
Being physically inactive or overweight can increase the risk of developing type 2 diabetes, and make it harder to control.
Myth: Diabetes means you will eventually go blind
It is true that all people with type 1 and type 2 diabetes are at risk of developing Diabetic retinopathy, an eye condition which can lead to blindness. However, this will not happen to everyone.
The risk of developing retinopathy is high in people with type 1 diabetes, with research suggesting this happens in 98% of cases during the first two decades a person has diabetes. The risk is not as high but still significant – at up to 60% – in people with type 2 diabetes.
