A large number of people live with diabetes and many others with prediabetes. Although obesity is a risk factor for this condition, a new research suggests that it might only be a certain kind of fat that produces type 2 diabetes.

Insulin is secreted by the pancreas when it detects sugar intake. Insulin enables cells to accept glucose, which is then processed by the cells and turned into energy.

Although being overweight or obese is a common risk factor for diabetes, now researchers have pointed out that diabetes can still occur in people of a healthy weight.

A previous research pointed out that 12 percent of people that were diagnosed with diabetes between 1990-2011 were at a normal weight. The same research indicates that once diagnosed, normal-weight participants were more likely to die from diabetes than their heavier counterparts. It could be that a certain kind of fat is what makes people prone to type 2 diabetes, regardless of their weight.

Senior author Scott Summers, Ph.D., chairman of the University of Utah Department of Nutrition and Integrative Physiology, believes it might be a toxic class of fat metabolites called ceramides that causes type 2 diabetes.

When we overeat, some of the excess fat gets either stored or burned for energy. But for some people, excess fat just turns into ceramides.

"Ceramides impact the way the body handles nutrients. They impair the way the body responds to insulin, and also how it burns calories" Scott Summers, Ph.D.

When too many ceramides accumulate in the fat tissue, the body reaches a "tipping point," as Summers puts it. Fat tissue stops working properly, and fat overspills into the blood vessels, heart, or goes on to damage the peripheral tissues.

"[The research] suggests some skinny people will get diabetes or fatty liver disease if something such as genetics triggers ceramide accumulation," said lead author Bhagirath Chaurasia, assistant professor at the University of Utah.

"Some people are just not made to deal with dietary fat," says Summers. "It's not just how much you eat, because some people can eat a lot and they just store all the fat effectively and remain healthy."

As a consequence, the scientists are now looking at genetic mutations that might make people predisposed to accumulating ceramides.

"By blocking ceramide production, we might be able to prevent the development of type 2 diabetes or other metabolic conditions, at least in some people," adds Chaurasia.

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