Celebrity Diet Secrets: Defeating Diabetes?

Halle Berry firmly planted both feet in her mouth when she recently declared that she managed to "downgrade" her Type 1 diabetes into Type 2 (and go off insulin) through healthy eating and exercise.

I know Halle made for one fierce Catwoman, but no feline prowess can be THAT miraculous!

Type 1 diabetes, which is non-preventable, used to be known as juvenile diabetes because it is commonly diagnosed in children. There is no one "cause", but the more solid theories point to a genetic defect.

People with this condition are living with a non-functioning pancreas.

Remember, the pancreas is responsible for secreting insulin (a hormone that converts glucose -- a sugar present in the blood after a meal -- into energy).

Without insulin, glucose remains in the blood (rather than go into cells for energy conversion), leading to various health complications.

People with Type 1 diabetes must inject insulin every single day.

People with Type 2 diabetes -- formerly known as "adult onset diabetes" -- are living with a pancreas that DOES secrete insulin, which the cells in the body don't recognize (hence the term "insulin resistance").

In turn, glucose remains in the blood, and the pancreas continues to secrete insulin.

In the longrun, the pancreas tires itself out, and becomes unable to produce sufficient insulin on its own. The solution? Injecting insulin and/or taking pills that help stabilize blood sugar (the pills are NOT insulin).

Here's the good news. Type 2 diabetes can be kept under control by healthy eating, exercise, and practicing blood glucose management.

Type 1, however, can not be reversed, no matter how healthy the person's lifestyle, since the pancreas is completely out of order and simply can not be resuscitated.

If Halle Berry was able to go off insulin, she was able to control her type TWO diabetes, not change from type 1 to type 2.