Genetics and Diabetes

Diabetes Causes Obesity

Gabe Mirkin, M.D.

According to Charles Darwin, people who inherit genes that make them sick give birth to children who die early and the gene disappears, but the gene for diabetes has been with us for millions of years and diabetes will plague the human race forever.
In times of plenty, a diabetic eats too much and dies from heart attacks, strokes, cancers, kidney failure and blockage of arteries. However, these deaths occur late in life, long after the diabetic has borne children.On the other hand, when there is not enough food to go around, diabetics live the longest because they store fat best and burn the fewest calories. For example, the Pima Indians who live in the deserts of Arizona and New Mexico used to be thin warriors able to survive on 700 calories a day, compared to the average European who couldn't make it on twice that amount. When Pimas eat the fattening Western diet, they are almost all obese and more than 70 percent become diabetic.
Eating raises body temperature to burn more calories. People who develop late-onset diabetes produce the least insulin that produces the least heat to convert the most calories into fat. So prevention of diabetes, and obesity in diabetics, is to keep blood levels of insulin low by preventing blood sugar levels from rising too high after meals. Avoid bakery products, pastas, sugar added foods and beverages. Eat root vegetables and fruits only with meals. If necessary, your doctor will prescribe drugs.

S Camastra, E Bonora, S DelPrato, K Rett, M Weck, E Ferrannini. Effect of obesity and insulin resistance on resting and glucose-induced thermogenesis in man. International Journal of Obesity, 1999, Vol 23, Iss 12, pp 1307-1313. In healthy humans, age, lean mass and respiratory quotient are the main independent determinants of resting thermogenesis. In contrast, insulin sensitivity and, to a lesser extent, abdominal obesity are the principal factors controlling glucose-induced thermogenesis.