Where Does Diabetes Come From: Causes & Origins Explained

Can We Heal the Root of Diabetes? From a person with Type 1 Diabetes.

I’m just a person living with Type 1 diabetes, asking questions—and this one’s been on my mind a lot lately:

Where does diabetes really come from?

We’re told it’s genetic. An autoimmune thing. But why would an autoimmune disease be locked into our genes in the first place? And why are there so many new diagnoses in our generation?

Here’s what I know—from a personal standpoint.

I was a kid who tried to be good. I went out of my way to help, even when I didn’t fully understand what was happening. I remember one moment clearly from kindergarten: we were lined up to leave for the day, and a kid next to me pulled the fire alarm—one of those two-step ones.

I panicked. “Dude, you shouldn’t do that!” I tried to put it back to normal, not knowing it required a key. And in the process… I pulled it the rest of the way.

The school evacuated. I got in trouble. I felt ashamed. Scared. Like I’d done everything wrong—when I was just trying to do right.

That moment planted a belief in me: “If I try to do good, it’ll go wrong. So… I’ll just rebel.”
And I did. I pushed the “good kid” away. I got into more trouble. That became my pattern.

Then, when I was 7 years old, I woke up throwing up. It didn’t stop for 3 days. No matter what my parents tried, I got worse. We ended up in the hospital—and that’s when I was diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes.

It was traumatic. (We’ll get into that part another day.)

Afterward, my mom took me to a chiropractor who practiced something called body tapping (EFT)—a way to read the needs of the body through the subconscious mind. His reading?
A blanket of poison was covering my pancreas, causing its own destruction.

That stuck with me. Where could that come from genetically?

Now, I realize: it didn’t start there. It started with the little traumas. The beliefs I took in. The stress I never released.
My mind was fighting for love—but I only found it through patterns of trouble.
Not healthy. Not anyone’s fault. Just… the way things went.

I’ve looked into epigenetics and found studies showing trauma can stay in a family for up to 14 generations. That’s heavy. And only in recent decades have people started learning how to heal those inherited emotional wounds.

Even now, as diabetics, we carry another layer: guilt.
“If I have kids, will they get this too?”
They say there’s a 1 in 5 chance. But honestly?
We don’t have to carry that burden anymore.

Your brain is your gut, and your gut is your brain. Stress weakens the immune system. It can create ulcers. And it definitely throws your blood sugar into chaos.

So I’m not just managing diabetes through diet and exercise.
I’m exploring healing. Emotional regulation. Nervous system balance.
I’m learning about EFT, NLP, EMDR, DBT, mindfulness, Ayurveda, and qi.

I’m not a doctor—but I believe in asking deeper questions.

So I’ll end with this:

What do you think took your pancreas on vacation?
And… do you think we can bring it home?

Want the medical breakdown? Here’s a quick, science-based read from the CDC.

While many of the root causes of diabetes are genetic, there’s an exciting field called epigenetics—which explores how our environment, behavior, and even emotions can turn certain genes on or off.

It’s still early, but researchers are also exploring the role of stem cell therapy in helping regenerate insulin-producing cells in people with type 1 diabetes.

I’m not a doctor—but I do believe in the possibility of healing, not just treating. If you’re curious about the science behind that hope, those links are a good starting point.

It doesn’t just affect the body. Here’s what it can do to your mind.