This may sound like a dumb question, but I have to know. Is diabetes related to what you eat? When I was a child there was an older man who had lost both of his feet due to diabetes. Every time that any of the children were eating cookies, he would tell them that cookies made him loose his feet. Is there any truth to this? Is diabetes related to how much sugar we eat? Since my grandfather is a diabetic and I have heard that there is also a genetic link, should I avoid all sugar in my diet?