
“Sugar Does Not Cause Diabetes”: Did the Film What the Health Get it Right?
The documentary What the Health is receiving a huge amount of attention and most of it is positive. Many reports of people attempting to eat better are filling social media. I discussed the film on a local TV station in Detroit after two reporters indicated that the movie had made a big impact on their diets. There have even been reports that restaurants serving healthier fare have seen an uptick in customers attributing the change to the film. I have seen this in my own plant-based restaurant and have a What The Health Happy Hour that has been very popular.
Naturally, there have been critics of the movie defending their viewpoint that meat based diets are healthy, but most have rallied around a statement in the film by Neal Barnard, MD that “sugar does not cause diabetes”. As the answer to this question may be important to you, I have done some research and share it here but this is in NO way an endorsement to add back soda and candy bars to your diet. In a world stressed by growing obesity and its medical consequences, limiting sugar is a universal recommendation from all health experts.
1) Type 1 diabetes is not caused by sugar. All agree on this as type 1 diabetes is considered an autoimmune disease leading to destruction of the insulin producing cells in the pancreas. However, patients with type 1 diabetes can develop and reverse insulin resistance (IR) in their muscles and liver so understanding the origin of IR is important.
2) Who is Neal Barnard, MD? Dr. Barnard is a graduate of the George Washington University School of Medicine and an adjunct associate profes
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