Being active and eating healthy are the best ways to manage weight. This advice works for everybody, but it can be particularly helpful for people with diabetes. That's because weight can influence diabetes, and diabetes can influence weight. This relationship may be different for type 1 and type 2 diabetes, but the end advice is the same: Managing weight can really make a difference in diabetes control.
Weight and Type 1 Diabetes
If a person has type 1 diabetes but hasn't been treated yet, he or she often loses weight. In type 1 diabetes, the body can't use glucose (pronounced: GLOO-kose) properly because the pancreas no longer produces insulin. Insulin is the hormone that helps move glucose into the body's cells where it can be used for energy.
Without insulin, blood glucose builds up to high levels. Eventually, the kidneys flush the unusable glucose (and the calories) out of the body in urine, or pee, and weight loss can happen. After treatment for type 1 diabetes, though, a person usually returns to a healthy weight.
Sometimes, people with type 1 diabetes can be overweight too. They may be overweight when they find out they have diabetes or they may become overweight after they start treatment. Being overweight can make it harder for people with type 1 diabetes to keep their blood sugar levels under control.
Weight and Type 2 Diabetes
Most people are overweight when they're diagnosed with type 2 diabetes. Along with a family history of diabetes, being overweight or obese increases a person's risk for developing type 2 diabetes.
People with type 2 diabetes have a condition called insulin resistance where their bodies can make insulin, but can't use it properly to move glucose into the body's cells. So, the amount of glucose in the blood rises. The pancreas then makes more insulin to try to overcome the problem.
Eventually, the pancreas can wear out from working so hard and might not be able to make enough insulin to keep blood glucose levels within a normal range. At this point, a person has type 2 diabetes.
People can have insulin resistance without diabetes, but they're still at high risk for developing type 2 diabetes. Weight loss, eating healthier foods and reasonable portion sizes, and getting exercise can improve and even reverse insulin resistance.
For people with type 2 diabetes, reversing insulin resistance makes it easier to get blood sugar levels into a healthier range. For those who have insulin resistance but not diabetes, reversing insulin resistance can reduce the risk that they'll develop diabetes.