The Los Angeles Times has run an article highlighting the cases of five people, including television star Larry Hagman of Dallas, who have successfully cut out the use of insulin and other diabetes drugs through improvements in their diet and exercise habits.

"Don't underestimate the body's potential to heal on its own," said John Burgess. One of the featured patients, Burgess originally was able to control his diabetes with just diet and exercise, but eventually resorted to drugs. The medication caused him to gain more than 50 pounds in three months, and eventually he found himself taking five daily injections of the strongest insulin on the market.

Eventually, a new doctor put Burgess on a strict diet, which enabled him to end insulin injections within a week. Eventually, combining diet with a new exercise routine, he was able to lose 84 pounds and no longer needs any of his diabetes drugs. He runs half a mile on a treadmill and five and a half miles on an elliptical machine every day.

Burgess advises people who are watching what they eat to take a trick from his book - when his business requires him to take a client out to lunch, he checks out the menu and nutritional information of a restaurant ahead of time, so he can know what to order.

Howard Yosha, who was also able to phase off his diabetes drugs with a strict diet and exercise program, advises other diabetics to remain active.

"Make moving more [of] a habit," he said. "I park on the top floor of my office's parking structure . . . and I pick the farthest parking space at the shopping center. I will do anything to avoid that terrible foot pain I had. I had uncles lose limbs to diabetes. I never want that to happen to me."