Why Diabetes Was Rare in the 1970s — and Common Today

Peter Lee

A friend recently asked me a thoughtful question:

“Diabetes is everywhere today, and even young people are getting it. Why was it so rare in the 1970s?”

It’s a question with real statistical and historical value. After reflecting on it for several days, I summarized the answer in three parts.

1. The 1970s Diet Was Naturally Protective — Very Few Refined Carbohydrates

In the 1970s, the average person lived on coarse grains and unrefined staples. Highly processed foods—those rich in sugar, white flour, and fat—were scarce. Rice, wheat flour, and meat were rationed. Families often ate “wartime grain”: rough, dry sorghum or cornmeal that required long cooking and was difficult to chew.

This diet placed minimal metabolic stress on the pancreas:

u  Blood sugar rose slowly and modestly

u  Insulin demand stayed low

u  Pancreatic β-cells were rarely overworked

In other words, the pancreas of that era worked calmly and steadily, protected from the constant glucose spikes common today. This alone dramatically reduced the likelihood of developing diabetes.

2. A Physically Demanding Lifestyle — Natural Insulin Sensitization

Life in the 1970s involved hard physical labor. Factories were only partially mechanized; most work relied on human strength. Commuting meant walking or riding a bicycle. People burned large amounts of energy simply living their daily lives.

Equally important, entertainment options were limited. Most people went to bed around 9 p.m., keeping regular circadian rhythms.

This lifestyle produced several protective effects:

u  Physical labor kept muscles insulin-sensitive

u  More muscle mass meant more glucose burned every day

u  Early sleep reduced hormonal disruptions

u  The pancreas had time each night for metabolic “reset and repair”

By contrast, modern lifestyles—sedentary work, prolonged sitting, late nights—push the body toward insulin resistance.

3. A More Equal Society — Less Psychological Stress, Healthier Hormones

The 1970s was a time of extreme material scarcity, but also a time of relative social equality. People were poor, but they were poor together. There was little comparison, little envy, and minimal psychological pressure.

Modern society is different: vast income gaps and intense social competition generate chronic stress, anxiety, and uncertainty. And chronic stress is a metabolic toxin.

Elevated stress hormones like cortisol:

u  Reduce insulin sensitivity

u  Disturb the endocrine system

u  Increase the burden on the pancreas

u  Accelerate the development of metabolic diseases

This type of stress-driven injury to the endocrine system barely existed in the 1970s.

The “Sweet Burden” of Modern Life

Material life today is richer, but so are the risks we have created for our own pancreas:

l  Highly refined, high-calorie foods everywhere

Sugar, oils, and fats are cheap and omnipresent.

l  Sedentary work replacing physical labor

Muscle atrophy reduces the body’s ability to manage glucose.

l  Chronic psychological stress and wider inequality

Long-term stress hormones disrupt metabolic health.

These are factors the 1970s never had—and together they explain why diabetes has become a defining disease of our era.