“What happens when a diabetic eats sugar?”

That will raise your blood sugar level because your pancreas is not able to keep up with the extra sugar .

Table sugar is made up of 2 sugars-glucose & fructose. These 2 sugars are broken apart in the gut & absorbed separately and metabolized slightly differently. It is the glucose part that will elevate the blood sugar level (BS). The BS level in the blood is controlled very close to prevent several problems. First if the BS gets too low (under about 70 mg/dl) the brain begins to act "funny". If it goes below 50 the person may begin to act funny & lose control and lower the person may become unconscious & have a convulsion. This can be fatal so always know your BS level. If BS goes too high it can damage blood vessels and the organ the serve & the nerves. This can cause blindness, kidney failure, foot ulcers with often amputation, and heart disease. Normal BS levels Fasting is 70-120 mg/ml & after a meal is 80-125 depending on what & how much you eat. Since the breaking point above which the damage occurs is between 140 & 150 we try to keep the fasting below 120 & the post meal below 140. The other test we use is the Hemoglobin A1c (HBA1c) . This is a measure of sugar stuck to red blood cells. The more glucose in the blood the more there is to stich to the cells. The American Diabetes Association says keep the HbA1c less than 7%. Other organizations such as the AACE say keep it less that 6.5%. So what does eating sugar do- it raises your blood sugar damaging your blood vessels & nerves and the organs they serve. This must be controlled by 1)not eating sugar & simple carbohydrates or 2) taking a bigger dose of the diabetes meds you are taking to get the sugar out of the blood. CAUTION: it is much easier by not eating simple sugars to control BS (also they are empty calories & contribute to weight gain & tooth decay) than it to try to calculate medicine doses based on you intake of sugar. It too easy to miscalculate & overdose that will cause the problems of low BS. Be moderate in all things. You'll find that in the Bible & it is still good advice, Good Luck.

Most foods have sugar in them. Carrots, potato, bread, apples, pasta, lentils, well, everything except plain meat has sugar in it. Diabetics need to be particularly in tune to the TYPE of sugar in the food. Some sugars are hard to digest, like fiber found in whole grains like oatmeal. Some sugars are easy to digest, like white rice and table sugar. You cannot live without sugar, but you can live without processed foods. Processed foods take all the fiber and complex sugars out (carbohydrates) and replace them with refined sugars (white flour, white rice, sweets, etc.). If you were just diagnosed with diabetes at 45 years old, chances are good that you have "type 2" diabetes. When you eat carbohydrates, glucose goes into your blood. If you eat natural carbohydrates like plain oatmeal, the glucose goes up slowly and does not cause a big sugar spike or insulin spike. If you eat processed carbohydrates like desserts or sweetened beverages or fruit juice, the glucose will rise very fast and high into the blood. This causes the insulin to spike, and the blood sugar to rise. It is a very short explanation of a very long subject. You might want to google "low glycemic index foods" and "the American Diabetes Association (ADA) for more information.