How do Type 1 and Type 2 Diabetes differ, and how does diet factor in to both? Lauren Antonucci, M.S., R.D., C.S.S.D., C.D.E., C.D.N., Owner/Director of Nutrition Energy, NYC, delves deeper into these questions and explains just how diet, weight, and nutrition affect each type.

"Introduction to Diabetes"


Lauren:

"Essentially, Type 1 diabetes is a condition in which someone does not produce any insulin at all. Their pancreatic islet cells are not producing any insulin, they need exogenous or external insulin in order to survive. So they must take injections or be on an insulin pump every day.

In Type 2 diabetes there's a strong genetic component, but much more of an insulin resistance and either a lack of insulin production or lack of ability for insulin to do it's job correctly. It's more progressive over time, it does tend to run in families, and there are lots of other components that go along with it, including people being overweight and metabolic syndrome, which includes high cholesterol, higher body mass index, waist circumference, hypertension, a whole host of things.

The best way for someone with diabetes, whether it's Type 1 or Type 2, to gain control of their disease, and to gain control of their health, is to really gain control of the foods they're taking in."