6 Healthy Hollywood Celebrities With Reversible Diabetes

These celebrities with Type 2 and gestational diabetes reclaimed the spark of their metabolic health.

Living with Type 2 or gestational diabetes isn’t a one-way street. Both conditions can be reversed, but without positive role models to emulate, both diagnoses can seem overwhelming and shameful. That’s why public figures like actors and actresses who are willing to talk about their journey with diabetes are so important to furthering our mission at Virta Health to reverse diabetes in 100M patients. They prove that diabetes is nothing to be ashamed about, and that it can be managed and even reversed. Here are six Hollywood stars who are setting a great example by being so transparent about how—and why—they changed their lives to better manage their diabetes.

Anthony Anderson - Type 2 Diabetes

Anthony Anderson who plays Dre Johnson on black-ish was diagnosed with type 2 diabetes in 2001. He told Everyday Health that he didn’t take the diagnosis as seriously as he should have. 

“I listened, but I didn’t really implement that into my life until much later,” he explained. “I wasn’t the best patient to my doctor.” As a result, he had a hard time managing his blood sugar—until he had a wake-up call that made him change his habits.

What changed? Anderson lost his father to a pulmonary embolism, a complication of type 2 diabetes. After that, Anderson stopped drinking and went vegan, though he later transitioned into being a pescetarian with a focus on vegetables. The result? Anderson lost 50 pounds, and he was able to bring his type 2 diabetes back under control. 

Salma Hayek - Gestational Diabetes

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Frida, 30 Rock and From Dusk 'Til Dawn actress Salma Hayek developed gestational diabetes while pregnant with her daughter in 2007. Speaking to Parents magazine, Hayek recalled feeling “nauseated for months” before her diagnosis, and later learned it can be a symptom of diabetes. 

“If I had it to do over again,” she said. “I wouldn’t eat so much fruit at the beginning. I didn’t know that eating fruit that is high in sugar is not recommended when you have gestational diabetes.”

Hayek gained fifty pounds during her pregnancy, but eventually lost the weight through a mixture of diet and exercise like yoga and dance. As a result, her diabetes went into remission. But Hayek didn’t rush the process.“I'm taking my time,” she told Oprah in 2008, noting that she’s “proud” to be putting in the work to learn how to eat healthy with diabetes.

Mariska Hargitay - Gestational Diabetes

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Law & Order: SVU star Mariska Hargitay developed gestational diabetes when she was pregnant with her first child, resulting in a 50-pound weight gain. As a result of her diagnosis, she told SELF magazine in 2007 that she was “overwhelmed” by fatigue and ate to cope. 

"I did get into eating too much,” she added. “This pregnancy was really hard for me at the end. I wasn’t mobile." Her remission started when Hargitay began exercising three times a week with a personal trainer and adjusted her diet to focus more on lean meats, fruits, and vegetables. Eventually, she lost the weight, reduced her blood sugar and went into remission.

Lea DeLaria - Type 2 Diabetes

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Lea DeLaria, an openly queer comedian and actor known for her role as Boo in Orange is the New Black, is a great example of someone who has managed their type 2 diabetes through diet and exercise, and is now using her platform to maximize body positivity in the diabetes care movement. 

“I’ve always been really energetic, but for a year I was feeling really weird, I didn’t know what was going on,” DeLaria said in an interview to People about the time leading up to her diagnosis. 

After diagnosis, DeLaria brought her diabetes under control by losing weight and reducing her carb and sugar intake. But she hasn’t gone entirely carb free.

“[I was] told that you can either eat potatoes or have beer,” DeLaria jokes.  “So I went with beer.”

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Tom Hanks - Type 2 Diabetes

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For the past decade, Tom Hanks has spoken candidly about having diabetes. In an interview with David Letterman back in 2013, Hanks said that after ignoring a warning from his physician that he had prediabetes, it eventually turned into a full Type 2 diagnosis.

After learning how difficult it would be to reverse his diagnosis, Hanks initially felt hopeless about getting better. “I’m going to have type 2 diabetes then,” he recalled thinking because he didn’t believe he could ever get back down to his high school weight.

Eventually, though, Hanks made the change—and saw results. The first thing he needed to address was his attitude. 

“Part of [the reason I have diabetes] is because of my genes and part of it is because of the horrible lifestyle that I led of eating anything I wanted,” Hanks told the Radio Times.

Before he was diagnosed with type 2, Hanks thought he could avoid diabetes through quick fixes like  “removing the buns” from his cheeseburgers. Now, Hanks knows to take a much more holistic view towards his health. 

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Drew Carey - Type 2 Diabetes

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The star of the Drew Carey Show series and the host of The Price is Right, Drew Carey knows his diabetes diagnosis is no laughing matter. In fact, the professional funny man lost eighty pounds and reversed his type 2 diabetes through a combination of diet and exercise. 

Carey went on a low-carb diet and cut out pasta, crackers, and bread, but did consume fruit, making the diet not no carb but low-carb. Foods he prioritized include yogurt and eggs. He also incorporated 45-minute cardio sessions into his daily routine and drank plenty of water. 

The result? Ten pants sizes lost, and in Carey’s own words: “I'm not diabetic anymore. No medication needed.

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If you are diagnosed with type 2 diabetes and want to live a healthier lifestyle, Virta Health may be able to help. By making healthy lifestyle changes in a medical setting with supportive resources like 1:1 virtual coaching, you can regain control of your health and feel like yourself again. See if you’re eligible for Virta Health here.

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