"I'm a type two diabetic, my mother is as well, and so was my father. We lost my father to complications from diabetes," actor Anthony Anderson said. Unfortunately for his father, he was diagnosed too late.
"I was the first person in my family diagnosed with it, and unfortunately, when my father was diagnosed with the disease, he probably had the disease close to 20 years," Anderson said.
He says many would think that living the Hollywood dream would make it harder for someone to control their diabetes, but Anderson says that just isn't the case for him. He told us, "There's nothing I need to resist in Hollywood. Hollywood has actually afforded me the opportunity to share my personal stories and to use my platform to bring to bring awareness to this."
After spending some time in the Alamo City, where so many are diabetic, he has this advice to those diabetics who are tempted to drink excess alcohol, and eat fatty foods. "If you want to avoid alcohol, you want to avoid fatty foods, you want to avoid sugar, don't eat or drink those things. That's the best way I can explain it," Anderson said. He also told us if you don't avoid those things, you'll need to make up for it somehow. "If you find yourself doing it, do it in moderation. Don't overdo it. But if you do it at all, you are going to have to pay for it in the gym. If I decide to indulge a little bit, I've got to do an extra hour in the gym on top of the hour and a half that I'm already putting in there," Anderson said.
To find out more about Anderson's work as an advocate for the fight against diabetes, just go to Getrealaboutdiabetes.com.