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Metabolic Syndrome

Metabolic Syndrome is the half-way house leading towards diabetes, heart disease, stroke, dementia, and increasing your risk of cancer, The problem is that many people are already here in their journey to ill health. The main cause of metabolic syndrome is the excess consumption of carbohydrates in the modern diet, and can be reversed if action is taken to control carbohydrate consumption.

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Key Articles : Understanding Carbohydrates : Controlling Your Blood Sugar Levels : Glycemic Index (GI) : Glycemic Load (GL) : Metabolic Syndrome : Are Carbohydrates Essential? ::

What Is Metabolic Syndrome?

A quarter of the population in the UK is believed to be suffering with metabolic syndrome which is a cause for great concern, because it is the root cause of most modern medical problems which are increasing so rapidly.

Metabolic Syndrome is a collection of medical symptoms. which at first appear to be unrelated, such as:

Insulin resistance
Being overweight with fat around your middle (central obesity or apple shaped) with a waist:hip ratio of over 0.90 on men and 0.85 in women or a Body Mass Index (BMI) of over 30 (Obese)
High blood pressure
High cholesterol levels

However, metabolic syndrome problems are all caused by the same thing, the body's inability to deal effectively with glucose digestion in the blood.

Poor diet causes metabolic syndrome, due to an excess of carbohydrates which release glucose quickly into the bloodstream because they have a high a Glycemic Index (GI) and Glycemic Load (GL). This causes a lot of insulin to be released from the pancreas to help remove the glucose from the blood and store it in the body's cells. Over time, repeated high levels of insulin cause the cells to become increasingly resistant to the effects of insulin, and so even more insulin needs to be released to move the glucose into the cells, which also means that higher levels of glucose remain in the blood over longer periods. Higher levels of glucose react with some proteins in the blood and tissues, which damages them and causes inflammation, which in turn causes further problems.

Metabolic syndrome causes weight gain because excess glucose is stored as fat. However, once the body has stored enough fat as a short-term energy store, the high insulin level promotes fat storage which dumps the excess fat into long-term storage as abdominal fat. Abdominal or belly fat behaves differently to normal fat, and stubbornly hangs onto the fat if you try to lose weight. It also releases hormones such as oestrogen and prolactin which cause further medical problems.

Metabolic syndrome can usually be reversed by eating a diet containing more fat and protein, and cutting back heavily on the problem carbohydrates such as grains, wheat, flour, potatoes and rice and replacing them with complex carbohydrates such as vegetables. Remember that almost all processed foods contain problem carbohydrates, especially sugars, wheat products and flour and reducing these in your diet is important. In other words, applying the principles of healthy eating. Exercise can also help.

Why Is Metabolic Syndrome Important?

A quarter of the population in the UK is believed to be suffering with metabolic syndrome which is a cause for great concern, because it indicates that these people are going down the road to having Type 2 diabetes , and already have a collection of serious health problems which significantly increase their chance of having: