Diabetes is a chronic disease that affects how your body maintains blood sugar or blood glucose levels. Glucose levels can rise due to food intake or other physiological processes, such as stress or illness. When these levels rise, the pancreas releases a hormone called insulin. Insulin tells your body that extra glucose is available and helps move the sugar out of your bloodstream and into your cells for energy or storage.If you have diabetes, your body either doesn’t make insulin or doesn’t respond to insulin, causing sugar to accumulate in the blood. For most patients, nutrition can play a significant role in diabetes management or prevention.