Metabolic Syndrome

Metabolic syndrome is a constellation of conditions. A diagnosis requires at least three of the following 5 cardiovascular factors. 1. Obesity.-if your waist line is more than 90 cm for men or more than 80 cm for women 2. High blood pressure.-if your Blood Pressure is more than 130/85 3. High Triglycerides -if your triglycerides are higher than 150mg/dL 4.

Low HDL or good cholesterol-if your HDL cholesterol is less than 40 mg/dL for men or less than 50 mg/dL in women. 5. High blood Sugar- if your fasting blood sugar is greater than 110 mg/Dl. These people have Insulin Resistance. Normally, when you eat food, your body converts that food into dietary sugars.

Insulin is a hormone released by the pancreas that tells your cells to open up to that sugar and convert it into energy. With insulin resistance, the cells don’t react well, and they are resistant to the effect of insulin Which result in excess sugar in the blood.

If you have any, three of the five risk factors mentioned above, you have metabolic syndrome. It’s a common and dangerous condition that is steadily increasing in adults of all ages, largely as a result of obesity epidemic.

This syndrome significantly increases your risk for heart attack, stroke, and diabetes Having just one of the risk factor is bad enough, but having more makes the likelihood of bad health outcome is even greater. That is why the term metabolic syndrome was coined. It helps to identify people at risk for cardiovascular disease and diabetes.

Metabolic syndrome also increases the risk of developing liver disease, kidney disease, and sleep apnea

Diagnosis and treatment: You can measure your waist circumference to see if you have at least one risk factor. You can have your blood pressure checked and have your blood sugar, triglycerides and HDL level checked in doctor’s office to see if you have metabolic syndrome

Triglycerides are a type of lipids that the body stores in fat cells and uses for energy. Problems begin when excess triglycerides circulate in the blood. The triglyceride levels above 150 -200 increases the risk of heart attack and stroke and raises the risk of death from cardiovascular disease.

Most of the cases of high triglycerides are caused by or worsened by weight gain, sedentary lifestyle, and diet high in fat and carbohydrates. So giving up or drastically, reducing your consumption of alcohol, saturated fats, sugar, and refined carbohydrates should be able to help to reduce the triglyceride level.

Regular exercise, weight reduction and if your Blood Sugar is elevated, bringing down the blood sugar level also helps.

3 most important things that increase your HDL or Good Cholesterol are not smoking, regular exercise and maintaining an ideal body weight

The good news is that you can actually reverse the metabolic syndrome. Losing weight is central to reducing many of the features. Lowering elevated blood pressure, lowering blood sugar and cholesterol level also place a major role in reducing your risk.

If you can do that and leave a healthy lifestyle-exercise daily, eating, healthy diet, getting enough sleep, not smoking and limiting alcohol intake-you will not only decrease your risk for heart disease and diabetes, but also increase your odds of leaving longer.

What to eat when you have metabolic syndrome? Having metabolic syndrome means you are probably overweight and also you have other conditions such as high blood sugar, high triglycerides, and high blood pressure. One of the best antidote is eating a healthy plant-based diet.

Instead of junk foods , eat a lot of vegetables, fruits, nuts, and whole grain, moderate amount of fish and poultry and limit red meat and processed meats. You loose more calories, than you are taking in, you will a have better chance of losing weight. Try to eat smaller portions and focus on foods high in fiber such as vegetables and legumes, which will keep you fuller longer.

Sprouted lentils or whole mung beans ( ಹೆಸರು ಕಾಳು) is great source of protein, very healthy and a great substitute as a snack. Don’t worry. Uncooked ಹೆಸರು ಬೇಳೆ doesn’t produce gas. Cooked once may. If it does, don’t blame me. Blame your digestive system .

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Dr Keshava Aithal ಅಂಕ 8 Double 0