Tom Hanks Type 2 Diabetes preventable says physician, plus top 6 tips to avoid it

The recent news about Tom Hanks and his Type 2 Diabetes diagnosis was revealed this week.

Hanks told David Letterman that his acting career's dramatic see-sawing with his weight could have triggered the diabetes "because you eat so much bad food and you don't get any exercise when you're heavy."

There is a way to keep this from happening, according to Amari Medical Chief Medical Director, Dr. J Shah, a double board certified international expert in obesity and fat loss who gave us tips to keep diabetes in check.

Dr. Shah says that dramatic weight gain and dramatic weight loss can cause the equilibrium of the body to be completely off.

He offers our readers this advice:

1.       Monitor your weight. Stay within a normal BMI range between 20 and 25. The Framingham Study suggests that an ideal BMI of 22 will prevent metabolic syndrome which includes diabetes.

2.       Eat a balanced and nutritious diet.  This will help to prevent glucose surges in the blood which leads to the insulin response leading to fat deposition. Insulin is a lipogenic (fat loving) hormone which leads to weight gain.

3.       Eat frequent and small low-glycemic meals to avoid blood sugar surges.

4.       Men and women of middle age and above should look at their hormones level. For example, testosterone levels in men and progesterone/estrogen balance in women. An imbalance of these hormones may lead to accumulation of visceral fat which can then lead to metabolic syndrome which includes diabetes.

5.       Never forget to exercise regularly for at least 30 minutes per day which totals 150 minutes per week. The gym (strength and resistance exercises) are recommended to improve Muscle Mass which helps your metabolism,  control of blood sugar and weight gain.

6.       If all else fails, find the root cause of your weight gain. Get advice from a board certified bariatric physician and go under a medically supervised weight loss program to safely lose weight and monitor your diabetes and medications you are taking while you are losing weight.

Dr. J. Shah, a bariatric physician and medical director of Amari Medical in Scarsdale, N.Y.