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!

What do you see when you picture THE CURE? The proverbial cure has always been a pill or a shot - just once. Problem solved. Well, if you look at the long list of Type 2 diabetics who have already been cured - it seems a cure will only come one way: the hard way!

Google sent me to this page posted by the Alternative Cancer Treatment Centers. The information first explains where Type 2 diabetes derives: a derangement in essential fatty acids. Specifically and statistically speaking - the fact that we consume twice as many Omega 6s as Omega 3s. The Omega 6s have become the main building blocks of the fats in our diets and therefore the fat in our bodies. This seems to be a triggering event for the rising incidences of obesity, heart disease, and Type 2 diabetes.

So now what? Okay, the page details about 44 things one must do, and continue to do for however long it takes to cure you. Don't read too much into my cynicism. I'm all about the Udo's and dosing up on the Omega 3s over 6s but when the supplement list gets longer than my Christmas List from 1988 - something's got to give! Now does anybody out there have a Type 2 Cure story to share? This is your chance - tell the world your secret to success!

I was intrigued by a recent Swedish study reporting that people on a so-called "Stone Age" diet had more stable blood sugar levels than those on a Mediterranean diet. An intriguing claim, because it's so often said that Mediterranean-style eating is super-healthful. Let's also admit it is a delicious way to eat: yes, pasta and bread is there, but it's balanced out by tons of fresh fruits, vegetables, fish and olive oil. The Stone Age way is a bit more spare: we're talkin' meat, fish, and lots of whole grains, berries and nuts. Nary a sliver of Parmesan in sight.

However, the results of yet another study, this time from Australia, indicates Mediterranean-style eating is a good choice, especially for diabetics. Researchers from the University of Melbourne say Mediterranean-born immigrants in Australia are less likely to die from heart disease than other Australians. The researchers have concluded it's all down to dietary patterns. More than forty thousand people participated in the study over a period of ten years. The numbers revealed those who ate the most Mediterranean-style foods had a thirty percent lower risk of dying from heart disease. For diabetics, the researchers speculate, the benefits could be even higher, reducing the risk of death due to ischemic heart disease.

Results have been published in The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition. Visit Reuters for a discussion of the study.

Yes, whole foods are good for your health. But maybe even better than you imagined. A Swedish study has concluded that a "Stone Age" diet is great for the health and could even prevent Type 2 diabetes. So what did people eat in the dark depths of prehistory? Well, a variety of foods, but nearly all of it was high in fiber, low in fat, fresh, and nearly unprocessed.

Scientists took a small group of fourteen glucose intolerant heart patients and put them on the diet of a lifetime: lean meat, fish, fruits, vegetables and nuts. This, it is assumed, is the sort of diet consumed by our Stone Age ancestors - hunter gatherers who lived around 70,000 years ago, long before the emergence of agriculture. Meanwhile, another group of patients with similar health issues were put on a supposedly healthy "Mediterranean diet" rich in whole grains, dairy, fruits and vegies, and unsaturated fats. Well, you guessed it. After twelve weeks, the researchers found those on the Stone Age diet had much more stable blood sugar levels and were better able to process carbohydrates without such major blood sugar fluctuations. In fact, all the Stone Age patients had normal blood glucose levels by the end of the study and also dropped a few pounds too. Those on the Mediterranean diet, however, experienced hardly any changes at all.

Admittedly, this is a very small-scale study. But the results are interesting nevertheless, and, I'd wager, not a huge shock to well-informed diabetics who understand the importance of curbing carb intake for better health. On the other hand, I was interested to note that the author of the study, Dr. Staffan Lindeberg, played down the "carb as culprit" angle, and instead emphasized the following simple rule for better health: avoid modern, processed foods.

When The Diet Channel reviewed Fiber 35, they took the diplomatic approach, citing good and not so good advice. Good advice including: get plenty of soluble and insoluble fiber from fruits, vegetables, and whole grains, eat reasonable portions, and exercise. The problem is that this excellent, evidence-based message is buried in hyperbolic language and some superfluous advice.

Fiber 35 emphasizes the mechanisms by which fiber and fiber-containing foods can help improve disease markers (cholesterol, blood sugar, and immunity), while helping to control weight and appetite. A concept enjoying heavy rotation and loose interpretations nowadays is the subject of toxins. Fiber 35 claims that toxins are relieved by eating fiber -- 35 grams a day or more. Fat is addressed as being relatively inactive from a metabolic standpoint. However there is emerging research (not addressed in Fiber 35) demonstrating that fat is active to the point of a separate hormone targeting the metabolic response. As the diabetic community grows, the day will soon arrive when local CVS and Walgreens pharmacies carry the next endocrine simulating prescription.

Until that day arrives (and I continue to pray that capitalistic affairs of Big Pharma slow down like the alimentary canal without a trace of fiber) - look toward Mother Nature for the most organic answer to our metabolic quagmire. Thanks to Brenda Watson for Fiber 35 and The Diet Channel for their comprehensive review. To read the full article, click here.

It's not an oxymoron -- it's quite possible to control the rise of blood sugar with the foods you eat. This does not entail culinary tomfoolery, skipping meals or any shenanigans you ordinarily would expect from a quick fix. Many of these tips come from a fully certified dietician, Joy Bauer.

Joy suggests pairing every meal with a lean protein. Protein helps slow the absorption of carbohydrates, so include lean red meat, skinless turkey and chicken, egg whites, seafood, legumes or tofu with every meal. She also suggests you choose blood-sugar friendly carbs, such as those higher in fiber. Fiber is that part of the food that we cannot break down and absorb. As Americans looked for convenience, many people turned to processed foods and away from the fresh vegetables and fruits that could provide adequate fiber, which also slowed the absorption of sugar into the blood stream. If you must eat pasta -- cook your pasta al dente. The more pasta cooks, the more starch breaks down, making it easier and quicker to digest (thus, raising blood sugar faster). For those of you who are willing to give it a try, checkout Dreamfields pasta. It has only 5 grams of digestible carbs per serving and 5 grams of fiber.

Focus as much as possible on the fiber-rich foods. Joy suggests eating more legumes. This is accomplished by adding chickpeas to salads and stir-fry's, kidney beans to chili, and lentils to soups, or pureeing beans to make dips. One more little tip to reduce the sugar shock into the body: add acid to your meals! Vinegar, yogurt and lemon can each slow blood sugar response. Enjoy vinaigrette on salad, yogurt with fresh fruit, or fresh lemon juice on vegetables. If you'd rather eat your fiber in a good old fashioned muffin, check out Miracle Muffins. Just add water and bake. With approximately 100 calories per muffin and over 6 grams of fiber you can't go wrong. Bon appétit, everybody!

Would you like to reduce your daily insulin requirements by a third or stop all diabetes medicines? Lofty goals, yes - but given the Eat To Live program - it's quite possible.

Regardless of my attempts to downgrade insulin dose in the last 15 years - my blood sugars would not take the hint. Had I known Dr. Fuhrman had figured this one out long ago - instead of badgering feats of diabetic noncompliance I would have picked up his book, Eat To Live. Dr. Fuhrman explains the best diet for humans to live longer in good health is also the best diet for one with diabetes. A diet comprised mostly in nature's perfect foods-green vegetables, beans, eggplant, tomatoes, mushrooms, onions, garlic, raw nuts and seeds and limited fresh fruit, allows for people to eat as much as they want and still lose weight, drop their cholesterol, and their blood pressure relatively quickly.

The Eat To Live dietary style is a vegetable-based diet designed to maximize nutrient per calorie density. It is the most effective treatment for those with diabetes, more effective than drugs. For a type 2 diabetic, this approach has resulted in complete reversal of the diabetic condition in the vast majority of patients and for a type 1 diabetic it solves the problems with excessive highs and lows and prevents the typical dangerous complications that too frequently befall those with diabetes. Joel Fuhrman, M.D is a board certified family physician specializing in nutritional medicine for overweight and diabetic patents.

Nutraceutical refers to foods claimed to have a medicinal effect on human health. The American Diabetes Association says individuals at risk of developing diabetes can make changes in their diet and increse their level of physical activity to reduce their risk. The following mentions a few foods and supplements that are your friends in the fight against diabetes.

You've probably heard a million times the benefit of soluble fiber. It lends a big helping hand by slowing carbohydrate absorption. Easy sources of soluble fiber include: oat bran, nuts, barley, flax seed, fruits like oranges and apples, and vegetables like carrots. Another nutritional gem is coffee! Well, more specifically chlorogenic acid, the antioxidant found in coffee. It slows the release of glucose into the bloodstream after a meal. Caffeine counteracts this effect, so diabetics are better off drinking decaf. Barley malt has similar blood glucose lowering effects as metformin, without the side effects. Some say barley malt is to beer as grapes are to wine. Barley malt extract (available in powder and liquid forms) is also used medicinally as a bulking agent to promote bowel regularity.

Other honorable mentions include: magnesium, chromium piccolinate, conjugated linoleic acid, bitter melon and our beloved cinnamon. Nutraceuticals would likely have substantial diabetes-preventive efficacy, and presumably could be marketed legally as aids to good glucose tolerance and insulin sensitivity.

There's always debate over whether or not fruit should be eaten with regularity by people with diabetes. The high natural sugar content makes this debate understandable, although people from each camp can make a convincing argument.

But, one thing that both groups can agree on is the fact that vegetables should find a way onto everyone's plate. While baked potatoes and corn are probably best left off said plate (due to their own high sugar content), there are a variety of other veggies that are great to indulge in. As a matter of fact, variety may actually trump quantity.

Colorado State University researchers found that, despite eating one less serving daily, people who consumed a wider array of vegetables experienced more health benefits than those who chose from a smaller assortment. The source behind these benefits come from phytochemicals, compounds that guard cells against free radical damage. By eating a wider assortment of vegetables, people had a better chance of consuming a greater amount of protective phytochemicals.

A new survey reveals that most people prefer to treat diabetes by changing their diets, rather than using medicines.

According to a survey of 1,022 adults (515 women and 507 men), 69% of Americans would prefer to try a dietary approach, whereas only 21% preferred treating diabetes with medicines. The survey reinforces results from clinical research on diabetes, which has consistently found that people with diabetes adapt well to low-fat vegetarian diets and gain important health benefits. A dietary approach to diabetes based on scientific research shows that a low-fat vegan diet can lower high blood sugar levels three times more effectively than oral medications.

Among the results: women are even more likely than men to prefer food changes over pills. People with more education and higher incomes were especially likely to favor a diet approach. For the financially savvy - this makes a lot of sense. You MUST buy food. You might as well buy healthier foods and curtail your Rx costs. Furthermore, Americans aged 45 to 64 were more enthusiastic about diet changes, compared with older Americans. I'll bet it's the convenience factor. A little less medication, a little more supper, please. The most pill-happy generation was the 18- to 24-year-olds. Don't look at me like that - I'm 28 and favor the flavor over medication, any day. Bon appetit!

A new study completed by the Minnesota School of Public Health says that eating vegetables like carrots, tomatoes, kale, and spinach, which are rich in caroteniods, will not only protect against cancer, but they have been shown to lower your odds of getting diabetes. However, this is not the case for smokers. The study results found that smoking somehow blocks the protective benefits of these nutrients.

Scientists conclude that carotenoids may counteract oxidative stress in the body and that is how it is thought that they reduce the risk of diabetes. However, this antioxidant metabolism and oxidative defense system appears to behave differently in smokers than non-smokers.

Once again, a huge upset for Joe Camel leaves the Green Giant standing tall like the Guardian of Good Health.