Can Diabetes Cause Weight Gain?

If you are wondering – can diabetes cause weight gain– the short answer is yes. But the reason you are wondering can diabetes cause weight gain is probably because you are having trouble with managing your weight. So it is more important to understand the causal relationship between diabetes, insulin, and weight management.

Weight gain is actually a common side effect for diabetics that use insulin as part of managing the disease. If possible, use natural treatments to control your blood sugar before having to control it with insulin. Insulin regulates sugar (or glucose) absorption into the body’s cells. So when you use insulin, glucose is able to enter your cells and the sugar level in the blood drops. Of course, this is the desired effect of using insulin. The problem comes in when you take in more calories than you burn and your cells get more glucose than they need. Whatever isn’t needed is retained as fat and accumulates. There are other functions of insulin and how the body uses fats and proteins that also can contribute to weight gain but using insulin is the main factor.

Can Diabetes Cause Weight Gain If Insulin Is Taken Orally Instead of Injected?

It doesn’t seem to matter if the insulin is injected or taken orally. The result is the same, but probably not as magnified, since not as much insulin enters the bloodstream with oral medications as it does when injected.

Can Diabetes Cause Weight Gain If Insulin Is Not Used?

There is no evidence to suggest diabetes alone will cause weight gain. In fact, it is usually the opposite – meaning that weight gain leading to obesity is one of the risk factors that can lead to diabetes.

Some diabetics may like to think that their condition is causing them to gain weight, but it is more likely that the patient is just not making enough of an effort to control their diet and to exercise, which will result in weight gain for anyone whether they are diabetic or not.

Can Diabetes Cause Weight Gain If Medications Besides Insulin Are Used?

Probably not. In fact, there are medicines you can ask your doctor about to control blood glucose levels that may actually promote weight loss. You should never switch without consulting your doctor, but you should inquire if it is possible to control your blood sugar with any of these medications and reduce your dosage of insulin. Some of these medications include metformin (Fortamet, Glucophage, others), exenatide (Byetta), liraglutide (Victoza) and pramlintide (Symlin).