Did Tom Hanks Get Diabetes From ‘Cast Away’?

Tom Hanks opened up about his Type 2 Diabetes diagnosis as early as 2013. Some fans wonder if it was his 2000 movie Cast Away that caused his diabetes. In the movie, Hanks played a survivor on a deserted island and he lost a lot of weight for the role. However, Hanks himself explains what really caused his condition.

Hanks appeared on the Feb. 13, 2018 episode of Phoebe Robinson’s podcast Sooo Many White Guys. When Robinson asked Hanks about his typical day, Hanks described how he addresses his diabetes on a daily basis.

‘Cast Away’ did not cause Tom Hanks’ diabetes

Hanks said the lifestyle he led contributed to his diabetes long before he began preparing for the movie Cast Away. Sometimes, he would even put on more weight for movie roles.

“I’m 60 years old and I found out about eight years ago that I successfully achieved the status of being a Type 2 diabetic,” Hanks told Robinson. “Part of it is because of my genes and part of it is because the horrible lifestyle that I led of eating anything. So now the first thing that I do is I try to take care of that.”

How much cardio does Tom Hanks do?

A big part of Hanks’ diabetes management is exercise. He described his daily workout routine, which is mainly cardio.

“I try to get, every single day, one hour of activity,” Hanks said. “That can be anything from a treadmill or a walk or a hike with a dog but it has to be one hour every single day.”

Tom Hanks’ diabetes diet 

As for what he eats, Hanks kept it vague. Even now, Hanks is no angel when it comes to the diabetes diet.

“I watch what I eat to a point of boredom,” Hanks said. “Every now and again I cheat to the point of self-loathing. That’s it. So after that, have some coffee, read the paper. Get up, get the workout out off the way, take a shower.”

The rest of the day

Once the diabetes management is out of the way, Hanks described the rest of his day. When he’s not making a movie, it usually consists of the same things the rest of us do every day.

“Then after that, it’s like come down to the office, see what goes on,” Hanks said. “Do I have to go to the dentist? Yes, I do. Oh, wait a minute, one of the grandkids has Grandparents Day. Off we go to that. Who are we having dinner with tonight? Nobody? Oh, let’s go see that. Then by that time is it 8:30. Is it too late to start something on Netflix? I think it’s too late. Should we start something? Because we’re going to binge whatever it is.”