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Signs of Disordered Eating and Diabetes - The Diabetes Link

Written by Megrette Fletcher MEd RDN CDCES | May 20, 2025, 4:00:00 AM

If you’ve ever caught yourself thinking, “This probably isn’t great, but it helps me cope,” when it comes to your diabetes and eating habits—you’re not alone. Disordered eating doesn’t always look like a full-blown eating disorder. Sometimes, it shows up in subtle ways that feel like “just trying to be in control.” For people with both type 1 and type 2 diabetes, the risk of disordered eating is higher, so those subtle shifts can be disordered eating.

Here’s the thing: diabetes makes disordered eating harder to spot because so many of the behaviors—tracking food, monitoring blood sugar, thinking about insulin—are already part of everyday life. But there are signs, and paying attention to them is important.

“Diabetes makes disordered eating harder to spot”

Emotional + Behavioral Signs

Let’s start with the stuff that might be showing up in your thoughts, emotions, or routines:

  • You’re skipping or restricting insulin to lose weight, avoid gaining weight, or because it feels overwhelming to take it.
  • You find yourself too much, too fast, or ‘binge’ eating, especially after a high or low, or as a way to numb out—then feeling shame or trying to “fix” it.
  • You’ve started avoiding diabetes-related appointments, maybe because you don’t want to be judged or feel like a failure.
  • You feel angry or apathetic about your diabetes, insulin, or food in general.
  • You have rigid food rules—only eating “safe” foods, cutting out whole food groups, or refusing to eat in front of others.
  • You fear both highs and lows and sometimes that fear keeps you from taking care of yourself.
  • You have anxiety about body image and are constantly thinking about food, weight, and calories.
  • You feel like you have to exercise or only allow yourself to eat after exercising.
  • You notice yourself withdrawing from friends, skipping social meals, or hiding what’s going on.
  • You follow very strict routines and feel anxious or out of control if you deviate from them.

If any of these feel familiar, they’re not just “habits”—they may be signs of disordered eating.

Physical Signs

Can include:

  • A1c that’s unusually high (consistently above 9.0) or suspiciously low (below 6.0) in a way that doesn’t match your meter.
  • Big swings in blood sugar—frequent highs and lows, with no clear pattern.
  • Unexplained weight loss or weight gain—especially when it’s fast or extreme.
  • Multiple DKA (diabetic ketoacidosis) episodes or near-misses.
  • Feeling nauseous, tired, dizzy, or dehydrated all the time.
  • Frequent infections—yeast, skin, or bladder.
  • Hair thinning, dry skin, irregular periods, blurry vision, or just feeling like your body is running on empty.

It is easy to shake these signs off as “bad diabetes control,” but maybe they are your body’s way of saying: I need help.

Why It’s So Easy to Miss

Diabetes requires so much attention to food, numbers, and body stuff you might not recognize when that attention turns obsessive or harmful. When your diligence is praised because it requires so much ‘discipline,’ friends, family, and healthcare providers might unknowingly encourage you to engage in disordered eating patterns.

People with disordered eating still look totally “fine” from the outside. This is because disordered eating and eating disorders don’t have a look. Your A1c can be in range. You might not be underweight. This is because disordered eating is about behavior and mindset—not just lab results or body size.

So What Should You Do?

If any of this hits too close to home, take a breath. You’re not broken. You’re not alone. This is more common than you think—and there is support.  Start by asking yourself:

“What would it feel like to care for myself without fear, guilt, or shame?”

That’s what recovery looks like. And it starts by noticing the signs. If you want to talk through this more or need help finding someone who gets it—like a therapist, CDCES, or support group—here are more resources. You can ask for help, even if you think “it’s not bad enough.”
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