Diabetic supersizing is another way to take a hard look at our modern diet as a cause for the epidemic of type 2 diabetes and the problem of obesity in our young people.
It is not true that obesity causes diabetes, but the two are linked because 80% of type 2 diabetics are obese.
It is hard to deny that one culprit is our diet when the aborigines of Australia now have four times the number of type 2 diabetics as the rest of their country.
Australia itself has seen type 2 diabetes go up 43% in four years.
And the big change is the western diet brought to them largely by fast food chains.
It's cheap and easy to get, and it is prepackaged, ready to eat.
Who can resist that? Diabetic Supersizing and Mice When researchers want to know how anything affects us, they use mice, poor things.
This time they fed mice a daily diet equivalent to a McDonald meal and eight cans of soda.
That diet is 40% from fat and high fructose corn syrup.
They expected to see things happen, but not the fast change they observed.
After only four weeks on this diet the mice already had insulin resistance and high liver enzymes.
Those are the beginnings of type 2 diabetes and non-alcohol fatty liver disease.
Diabetic Supersizing and Children Doctors are estimating now that one out of every eight children already has non-alcohol fatty liver disease in its early stages.
They know that the cause is too much refined sugar and processed grains which break down into glucose as fast as sugar does.
Kids get about 40% of their meals from fast food, convenience stores and restaurants.
That means prepackaged food and snacks make up almost half of what they eat.
Add in the highly processed cereal with sugar added that most kids have for breakfast, and you understand what is going on.
Before Diabetic Supersizing In the early 1800s the average U.
S.
citizen ate 12 pounds of sugar in a year.
In 2000 the number was estimated to be 150 pounds per year.
If you understand statistics, that means for each person who eats 5 pounds of sugar per year there is someone eating 295 pounds, or more than 5 pounds per week.
If that person was eating sugar by the spoon it could not be done, but there is so much sugar in processed foods and drinks that it is actually possible to get that amount without a lot of effort.
The worst thing about high amounts of refined sugar is that over time it causes sugar addiction, increased hunger and hormone imbalances.
Next comes a suppressed immune system, hyperactivity, depression, fatigue and inflammatory diseases that range from migraines to cancers.
Another statistic that probably isn't surprising - on average we eat one quarter more calories a day than we ate in the 1970s.
And since we have also become more sedentary in that time, we are set up for a train wreck of obesity and type 2 diabetes.
Diabetic Supersizing and Portion Control Many studies have been done to prove the way portion size affects how much we eat.
In one case movie goers were given tubs of popcorn, some large and some extra large.
They found that almost all the popcorn was eaten regardless of the size of the container.
It is absolutely true that whatever is on your plate you will probably finish.
That explains the danger of eating from a bag of chips or a box of cookies.
Whatever is in your hands, you will eat.
One lady wrote about her experience as a bakery owner.
She used to make muffins and sell them, and she witnessed the arrival of the supersized muffins.
She had to buy new muffin tins that doubled the amount of batter she had to use to keep up with the larger portion size.
Everyone wanted the new muffins, so she had no choice.
Of course the number of calories in a muffin was doubled too.
And that is not an isolated event.
Look at the size of an American croissant compared to a French one.
Ours are twice the size.
The bigger is better competitive nature of the restaurant business has helped bring us to this place, but if we know it we can stop.
Cutting portion sizes, using a smaller plate, those tricks will help, but it is not the only thing we need to change.
Diabetic Supersizing and Empty Calories The biggest problem with processed foods, not just from fast food but also from the grocery story, is the refined carbohydrates.
White flour, so-called wheat flour that isn't really, and other prepackaged foods have had all the nutrients processed out.
Why do foods have to be fortified and have added vitamins? The original whole food had a lot of vitamins and other nutrients packed in it.
Whole wheat bran was full of B vitamins.
Raw sugar had lots of iron and minerals in the part we call molasses.
There is no such thing as a "bad" carbohydrate in its natural state.
But we have grown accustomed to empty calories in our bread, cereal, pasta, sweeteners, and prepackaged meals.
It is possible to eat a low calorie diet and not see your diabetes improve or be able to lose weight if you don't understand this.
It is also possible to eat a diet free from empty calories, the high glycemic carbohydrates and refined sugars, and regardless of the amount of fat or protein you eat you will lose weight and lower your blood sugar.
It may not be easy to change, especially at first, but it can happen.
Understand who is the real enemy in the battle against type 2 diabetes and obesity, and you can eat out or eat at home.
It won't matter.
Give your body good things to live on and diabetic supersizing won't tempt you at all.