“I was shocked because I always find myself exercising and eating right,” says the Oscar, Emmy, and Tony-winning actress and producer. “I felt fantastic. But there you go. Blood doesn’t lie.” Davis opened up about her diagnosis in New York City on April 25, 2019, at the Tribeca Film Festival premiere of a documentary about diabetes that she narrated, A Touch of Sugar. Prediabetes means blood sugar levels are higher than normal but not high enough to be considered diabetes. That happens because of the body’s inability to handle the hormone insulin normally, according to the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases (NIDDK). Having prediabetes puts a person at-risk for developing type 2 diabetes, in which high blood sugar can result in serious health complications, such as heart disease, nerve damage, blindness, and amputations, if left untreated, notes the International Diabetes Federation. While what you eat, how much you move, and how much you weigh can be risk factors for developing type 2 diabetes, family history and ethnicity can also play a role. According to the Joslin Diabetes Center, African Americans, Latinos, Asian Americans, Pacific Islanders, and Native Americans are at a higher risk of type 2 diabetes than Caucasians. Davis found out about her elevated risk through a hemoglobin A1C test, which shows how much glucose attaches to the hemoglobin in your red blood cells over the past three months, on average. A test result of 5.7 to 6.4 indicates prediabetes; 6.5 or higher means an individual has diabetes, according to the American Diabetes Association. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), about 30.3 million people in the United States have diabetes — most of them type 2. On top of that, about 84.1 million have prediabetes. In many cases, people aren’t aware that they have the disease. “I was one of the people who didn’t know it,” says Davis. Despite being fit and watching what she eats, the entertainer still has risk factors associated with developing type 2 diabetes, including having relatives with the disease and an African American ethnicity. She decided to spread the word about the risks and complications associated with diabetes through her work on the documentary. A Touch of Sugar is directed by Ani Simon-Kennedy and created in collaboration with Merck, the drug maker behind Januvia (sitagliptin), as a part if its America’s Diabetes Challenge campaign. It features a diverse cast of people who are living with diabetes, their families, and Braziilian native chef Leticia Moreinos Schwartz. Davis shared more about her personal connection with the disease in the Q&A below. Everyday Health: How are you managing your prediabetes diagnosis now? VD: I’m going to manage it like a warrior! I’m trying to. It’s harder as you get older because my metabolism is different. I work out three times a week with my husband and a trainer. I’m redefining food, which I thought I already did. But I’ve been vigilant about that. I do the paleo diet. I’ve discovered yam noodles and cauliflower pizza — not that I ate pizza before. I went from feeling like I had to be vigilant to hypervigilant. What it speaks on is how difficult this disease is, and how complicated it is, and how it needs to be managed, and how you need to be armed with information. The thing that happened with me is that I got busy. When you get busy, you slip to some extent. You are going to slip because you can’t do it all. You’re not a superwoman. You are working 16 hours on a set and you are eating grapes at midnight to keep yourself awake because you have two more hours to go. For some people that’s a healthy snack, but for someone who is predisposed to diabetes? Not so much so. RELATED: Can the Paleo Diet Help Manage Type 2 Diabetes? EH: What is your tip for people like you who want to get back on track? VD: Exercise, I’m really good with. It was my relationship with food that needed refining. It’s very difficult. So I’m arming myself with different choices. I bring paleo food with me. Sometimes I make my own desserts with almond flour. I am going to my doctor on a regular basis. I’m attacking it from every and all angles. I also use supplements such as berberine and alpha-lipoic acid. I put a lot of cinnamon in my coffee or tea, with no sugar, which I did before — I’m just doing it more. EH: You have a family connection to diabetes. Please tell us about it. VD: I have two sisters who are here tonight who have type 2 diabetes. My aunt Bessie, both of her legs were amputated before she succumbed to the disease; and my paternal grandmother died of complications of diabetes. RELATED: Are You at Risk for Neuropathy? 11 Causes You Need to Know EH: Why is diabetes prevention especially important for people of color? VD: It really affects the African American community and Hispanic community more than anyone. Partially it’s due to our diet; partially it’s lack of access to healthcare and income. There’s a lot of factors. Listen, the name of the documentary is A Touch of Sugar, and that’s how we African Americans refer to diabetes — “So-and-so’s got ‘the sugar’”— and that is all you knew in the past, that so-and-so’s got “the sugar.” You received no information, there was no education. Just: “You got ‘the sugar.’” And that’s it. It was almost like, tag, you’re it. EH: And what do you want people to take away from this film? VD: Besides hope? I want people to understand that it is a disease … affecting more than half of our population [including prediabetes and type 1 diabetes]. I want them to know that we are indeed in the same boat, brother; so, it behooves us to attack this crisis on a revolutionary scale. (Editor’s note: Answers have been edited for brevity.)
