Sugar metabolism is the process of turning the energy from the foods you eat into fuel your body's cells need to grow and function. If you have diabetes, you have a problem with insulin, which is an important hormone in sugar metabolism.
Sugar Metabolism: From Food to Fuel
When you eat foods, enzymes in the digestive process break down proteins, fats, and carbohydrates into amino acids, fatty acids, and simple sugars. These byproducts are absorbed into your blood, where they are available to be used as energy when your body needs it.
The most important source of fuel for your body is a simple sugar called glucose, also known as blood sugar, which builds up in your blood after a meal. Blood sugar can then travel throughout your bloodstream to be used by cells throughout your body.
Your pancreas, a gland located behind your stomach, is in control of releasing hormones that tell your body whether to store or release energy for your body to use. One of these hormones, insulin, is essential for helping your body use blood sugar and preventing a build-up of blood sugar in your bloodstream.
Insulin “unlocks” your cells to allow the sugar circulating in the blood to enter the cells where it can be turned into energy. After you have eaten a meal, your pancreas senses a rise in your blood sugar level and releases the precise amount of insulin needed to move sugar from your blood into your cells.
How Diabetes Affects Sugar Metabolism
If you have diabetes, your body has problems producing insulin, responding to insulin, or both. When insulin is not working as it should, blood sugar can build up, eventually spilling over into your urine. This can lead to diabetes symptoms such as increased urination and unexplained weight loss, since your body isn't able to use the energy from the foods you eat. If left uncontrolled, diabetes can cause your blood sugar levels to become dangerously high, which can result in serious health conditions, diabetic coma, or even death.
In type 1 diabetes, your immune system mistakenly makes antibodies that attack the insulin-producing cells in your pancreas, resulting in little or no insulin production. People with type 1 diabetes need to take insulin injections every day so that their bodies are able to process blood sugar.
In type 2 diabetes, the pancreas usually produces adequate levels of insulin, but for some reason, the body has trouble responding to insulin or may be insulin-resistant. This causes elevated blood sugar levels despite adequate insulin levels. High blood sugar levels signal the pancreas to release even more insulin. After some time, the pancreas is unable to keep up with the increasing needs for insulin, blood sugar levels become elevated, and type 2 diabetes can develop. Type 2 diabetes can usually be managed with changes in diet, regular exercise, and oral medications, but insulin injections are sometimes needed to control blood sugar levels.
In another condition known as prediabetes, your blood glucose levels are elevated, but not high enough to diagnose diabetes. Most patients with prediabetes who do not lose 5 to 7 percent of their body weight are likely to develop type 2 diabetes over a 5- to 10-year period.
Your doctor can perform a simple test that measures your blood sugar levels to determine if you have diabetes or prediabetes. If properly treated, these conditions can be managed so that they do not lead to other, more serious health problems.