You've heard about the sports stars and the rock stars who succeed in life despite suffering from diabetes. Now, here's something a little more unusual: a circus acrobat! Dolly Jacobs is Circus Sarasota's "Queen of the Air." She recently gave an interview to the Bradenton Herald about her life in the circus.

Trim and petite like a dancer, Jacobs was diagnosed ten years ago. How did it happen? She had the warning signs most type 1s experience: weight loss and a killer thirst she just could not quench. Her mom already had type 1, so during a routine office visit, Jacobs asked the doc to check her blood sugar too. Whoa. It was 260 - way, way above normal. Jacobs was diagnosed not with type 1, but with a rarer form sometimes dubbed "type 1.5" or Latent Autoimmune Diabetes of the Adult (LADA). LADA is basically the same as type 1 diabetes, but develops later in life.

So how does one deal with diabetes when your job involves flying through the air with the greatest of ease? Low blood sugar is easy, says Jacobs. Correct it with a soda or juice. High blood sugar is tougher. She says she can go as high as 500 or 600 just from adrenaline. So, just like any other athlete, she depends on testing several times daily and she wears an insulin pump - but not when she's performing. Eating healthy - lean meats, fruits and veg - are important too, she says.

Click here to read more. Kudos, by the way, to the journalist who wrote this article, Roberta C. Nelson, for taking time out to identify the different forms of diabetes and to explain the dangers associated with high vs. low blood sugar. Great!

Pomegranate juice was shown to reduce the risk of arthrosclerosis in diabetics who participated in a study conducted over three months. The pomegranate juice also appeared to slow the absorption of unhealthy LDL cholesterol by immune cells.

People with diabetes have increased risk for atherosclerosis, contributing to coronary heart disease, heart attacks, strokes, and other circulation problems. The results of this study suggest that the antioxidants found in pomegranate juice may be beneficial in reducing these heart-related risks associated with diabetes. The sugars in pomegranate juice are attached to unique antioxidants, which actually make these sugars protective against atherosclerosis. Researchers examined the effects of drinking a concentrated pomegranate juice that is the equivalent to about a 6-ounce glass of freshly squeezed pomegranate juice for three months in 10 healthy adults and 10 adults with type 2 diabetes (who were not dependent on insulin therapy). Drinking pomegranate juice did not affect overall cholesterol levels, but researchers found it reduced the uptake of LDL (bad) cholesterol by immune cells, which is a major contributing factor to atherosclerosis.

Albeit a little tart, the reputation of the pomegranate falls heavily on the sweet side. One pomegranate delivers 40% of an adult's daily vitamin C requirement. Food manufacturers' favor using pomegranate extracts instead of the juice because it contains no sugar, calories, or additives. Factor in the folic acid, the free-radical destroying antioxidants, and the overall health benefits of the Chinese apple and ask your arteries if it's worth a 6 ounce glass. I'm guessing the answer is yes.

Researchers have been looking into the health benefits of pomegranate juice consumption for people with hardening of the arteries (atherosclerosis). Interesting discovery: the juice could be really good for diabetics as well as those with heart/arterial problems.

First of all, the research did confirm that drinking six ounces of pomegranate juice daily for three months reduced the risk of atherosclerosis and also reduced the uptake of "bad" cholesterol. However, the researchers also observed that the juice did not worsen blood sugar levels in diabetics. Hmm. Turns out that although pomegranate juice contains as much sugar as regular juice, the sugars are bound with antioxidants and are less harmful than regular sugars. Awesome - except for one thing. This was a really small study, involving only twenty subjects. I would think you would have to do something on a much larger scale in order to prove anything conclusively.

Do yourself and your family a favor and limit your fruit juice consumption. Better yet, cut juice - along with soda - from your diet entirely. Although the companies that manufacture fruit juice love to slap labels on their products claiming they are "healthy" and "natural," this just 'ain't true. Fruit juice, even without extra sugar added to pump up the taste, is loaded with sugar and calories. It's bad for the teeth and it's bad for the waistlines of kids and adults alike.

Excess juice consumption - like excess soda consumption - may even contribute to the development of Type 2 diabetes. Dr. Robert H. Lustig, professor of pediatric endocrinology at the University of California at San Francisco and a passionate opponent of juice consumption explains it as follows: The fructose in juice is metabolized into acetyl-Co-A, a compound that is normally processed by the body without harm, but which occurs in such high quantities in people drinking lots of juice and soda that it can damage the body in a variety of ways. One of these ways is the production of a compound toxic to beta cells in the pancreas, which some experts believe triggers the development of Type 2 diabetes.

When it comes down to the facts, juice is not much more than a sugar cocktail of fructose, glucose and sucrose, with none of the beneficial fiber you get from eating fruit. The calories it contains can contribute to weight gain, obviously, but in addition it is not effective at suppressing the appetite, which encourages overeating. The final word goes to Dr. Lustig: "Drinking juice - even if it says '100% natural' - is no better than drinking soda."