METABOLIC SYNDROME:
Metabolic syndrome a condition that is extremely common yet largely unknown to the public. I get blank uncomprehending stares when I tell people they have it. Nearly 35% of all adults, and 50% of those over 40 years of age have it, and those numbers are rapidly increasing.
There are five conditions and lab abnormalities that frequently occur at the same time. Collectively these indicate a strong risk for serious health conditions such as heart disease, diabetes, cancers and early death. The elements of metabolic syndrome are linked by a single root abnormality called insulin resistance, a condition that develops because of excessive sugar & carbohydrate consumption. Insulin resistance causes the blood level of insulin rise dramatically. It is not unusual for it to be 10 or 20 times higher than normal! The medical term for high insulin is Hyperinsulinemia and it causes pathological changes throughout the body.
There are five conditions and lab abnormalities that frequently occur at the same time. Collectively these indicate a strong risk for serious health conditions such as heart disease, diabetes, cancers and early death. The elements of metabolic syndrome are linked by a single root abnormality called insulin resistance, a condition that develops because of excessive sugar & carbohydrate consumption. Insulin resistance causes the blood level of insulin rise dramatically. It is not unusual for it to be 10 or 20 times higher than normal! The medical term for high insulin is Hyperinsulinemia and it causes pathological changes throughout the body.
You may have had metabolic syndrome for years already but haven't realized it. Maybe you have too many pounds around the middle, have been put on pills for blood pressure, or cholesterol, and maybe pills diabetes too. It's common for people with metabolic syndrome to take a cocktail of medicines.
What few people realize is that these problems are linked together by diet. All the elements of metabolic syndrome can improve dramatically by removing starches and sugars, and consuming healthy fats and proteins instead. Medicines just wallpaper over the symptoms of metabolic syndrome without treating the underlying cause which is sugars and concentrated carbs.
STOP fertilizing the tree! Cut the carbs and eat more healthy fats and protein.
How is Metabolic syndrome usually diagnosed? Usually, it isn't diagnosed at all. Instead, most healthcare providers simply list each problem separately as if unrelated. Several medical societies have created their own sets of criteria for diagnosing it. I utilize the criteria published by the National Cholesterol Education Program (NCEP).
Most practitioners are not yet testing for Hyperinsulinemia. This is a shame because it can predict the risk of future disease. I commonly order a fasting glucose and insulin at the same time. From these two numbers, a value called HOMA-IR (HOmeostatic Model Assessment for Insulin Resistance) is calculated. It estimates how hard the pancreas is working to keep glucose under control. Say glucose is fairly normal after fasting overnight but simultaneous insulin is very high, that means the pancreas is producing abnormal amounts of insulin in an effort to keep blood glucose controlled. Another test is the insulin, glucose tolerance test. This checks the insulin response to an ingested glucose load.
Why do fat and muscles become insulin resistant? There are a couple of theories. The older explanation is known as the key and lock theory. It was thought that Insulin acts like a key to insulin receptors on cells and in insulin resistance, the keys begin to fail to open the locks so sugar can't get into cells. Over time the more of the keys fail to work so the pancreas must produce more keys to get the job done.
Most practitioners are not yet testing for Hyperinsulinemia. This is a shame because it can predict the risk of future disease. I commonly order a fasting glucose and insulin at the same time. From these two numbers, a value called HOMA-IR (HOmeostatic Model Assessment for Insulin Resistance) is calculated. It estimates how hard the pancreas is working to keep glucose under control. Say glucose is fairly normal after fasting overnight but simultaneous insulin is very high, that means the pancreas is producing abnormal amounts of insulin in an effort to keep blood glucose controlled. Another test is the insulin, glucose tolerance test. This checks the insulin response to an ingested glucose load.
Why do fat and muscles become insulin resistant? There are a couple of theories. The older explanation is known as the key and lock theory. It was thought that Insulin acts like a key to insulin receptors on cells and in insulin resistance, the keys begin to fail to open the locks so sugar can't get into cells. Over time the more of the keys fail to work so the pancreas must produce more keys to get the job done.
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The newer theory relates to fat cell diameter. Fat cells are supposed to accept fat, store it for a little while and then release it between meals. Eating too frequently, or eating a combination of carbs and fat together cause fat cells become overfilled, and they simply can't stuff any more fat in. An overstuffed fat cell is sorta-like an overstuffed suitcase. Putting stuff into an empty suitcase is no problem, but gradually it gets tougher and tougher to pack more in, until there isn't room for even one more T-shirt.
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There is one thing the body can do when faced with stuffed fat cells: MAKE MORE! The body has cells known as fibroblasts. These are undifferentiated cells that can be transformed into mature fat cells when the need arises, like when there is no more room inside your existing fat cells. Some people can do this very well indeed. They just create more fat cells as long as they need to, and this seems to be protective for a while. They just get very obese. Some people have trouble creating more fat cells and develop severe lipid and diabetes before they get very fat. This whole concept is called personal fat threshold. People born of Asian ancestry typically have low personal fat thresholds so they become diabetic after putting on a small amount of belly fat. Eating sugar, starch, and fat together (🍩🍰🍪) is a great way to rapidly fill fat cells.
What medicines treat insulin resistance? None really. Metformin stops the liver from pumping out so much glucose, but that isn't quite the same. The treatment is to quit over-stuffing fat cells. This is accomplished in several ways, some easier and some harder than others.
What medicines treat insulin resistance? None really. Metformin stops the liver from pumping out so much glucose, but that isn't quite the same. The treatment is to quit over-stuffing fat cells. This is accomplished in several ways, some easier and some harder than others.
- Severely restricting calories does work, although it is only a temporary solution because the body fights against this with hunger and decreased metabolic rate. This is a bad idea.
- Bariatric surgery is another way. Surgery is like surgically enforced calorie restriction. Weight-loss surgery, however, can be defeated by drinking liquid calories and eating processed junk food.
- A very low carbohydrate ketogenic diet works because insulin is not overstimulated and fat production isn't either. It is also sustainable because hunger is suppressed by an increased proportion of fat and protein. Since modern processed and junk foods are loaded with concentrated carbs along with high fat, the best way to treat metabolic syndrome is cut out those foods with that combination.
