Tom Hanks ‘blindly’ let his health slip which led to type 2 diabetes
This Morning: Type 2 diabetes can be 'devastating' says expert
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The Academy Award winner posted on his Twitter profile: “I’m that actor in some of the movies you liked and some you didn’t. Sometimes I’m in pretty good shape, other times I’m not. Hey, you gotta live, you know?” In a candid interview, Hanks called himself “a total idiot” for ignoring health warnings in his younger years.
“I’m part of the lazy American generation that has blindly kept dancing through the party and now finds ourselves with a malady,” he told Radio Times.
“I was heavy. You’ve seen me in movies, you know what I looked like. I was a total idiot.”
Back in 2013, Hanks regaled the story of his type 2 diabetes diagnosis to TV host David Letterman.
“I went to the doctor, and he said, ‘You know those high blood sugar numbers you’ve been dealing with since you were 36?
“‘Well, you’ve graduated! You’ve got type 2 diabetes, young man’.”
The Cast Away actor thought he could avoid the blood sugar condition “by removing the buns from my cheeseburgers”. “Well, it takes a little bit more than that,” he quipped.
A person’s diet is one key component of reducing the risk of developing type 2 diabetes.
Age UK promotes a diet low in fat, sugar and salt, which is full of fruits and vegetables to reduce your risk of type 2 diabetes.
“Studies published in 2009 revealed that eating processed meat ups your risk of diabetes by 40 percent,” Age UK stated.
Processed meats examples:
- Hot dogs
- Bacon
- Ham
- Corned beef
- Beef jerky.
By indulging in unhealthy foods, and not exercising enough, it’s more than likely that you will become overweight, which is another risk factor for diabetes.
“My doctor says if I can hit a target weight, I will not have type 2 diabetes anymore,” Hanks told Radio Times.
Is type 2 diabetes reversible?
Diabetes UK pointed out that type 2 diabetes can go into remission, but there is “no guarantee that your diabetes is gone forever”.
What is diabetes remission?
The charity explained: “This is when your blood sugar levels are below the diabetes range and you don’t need to take diabetes medication anymore.
“The strongest evidence we have at the moment suggests that type 2 diabetes is mainly put into remission by weight loss.”
How to lose weight in a healthy weight
The NHS says that healthy weight loss involves losing up to two pounds per week, and no more.
In order to lose weight successfully you need to burn off more calories than you consume each day.
Exercise is key in losing weight, putting diabetes into remission, and lowering the risk of the health condition in the first place.
People are encouraged by the national health body to move for at least 150 minutes each week.
Tom Hanks stars in Bridge of Spies, which airs on Tuesday, September 27 on Film4 at 7.15pm.
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