Are these treats making your mouth water or do you see sugar, sugar and more sugar?

When we think about sugar, we usually think about the sugar added to cakes, biscuits, sweets and drinks that make them sweet which is called sucrose. There are other types of sugar and other ways that we consume sugar, for example, sucrose also occurs naturally in fruits and vegetables.

The word glucose comes from the Greek word for “sweet”. It is a type of sugar you get from the food you eat.

Diabetes is a condition where a person has too much glucose in their blood.

Diabetes occurs when the body:

• Stops making insulin
• Doesn’t make enough insulin
• Or the insulin does not work properly. 

This means sugar builds up in the blood and can’t get into the cells where it is used to make energy. Too much sugar in the blood can lead to serious health issues. 

Flip the cards below to see some examples:

Age profile of people with diabetes

Any surprises? Did you agree?

There is quite a bit of conflicting information about low, high and acceptable sugar levels. It can be confusing as manufacturers of products containing sugar want to encourage people to buy their products. Essentially, if you have diabetes or you are working with a person who has diabetes, it is really important to have a good understanding about sugar.

The word diabetes was originally a Greek word meaning siphon.

Are you interested in the history of diabetes?

Dr. Ananya Mandal wrote an interesting article (2 minute read) which talks about the history of the treatment of diabetes, the discovery of the role of the pancreas and the discovery of insulin. It is worth a read if you have time and you think this might be of interest.