Metabolic Syndrome: Epidemic of the Modern Age

Metabolic Syndrome represents all that ails Western Civilization. There is no other disease process which reflects the weaknesses of our lifestyle so poignantly. Because Metabolic Syndrome is so pervasive, it behooves each of us to take a close look at our eating habits, workstyle, exercise routines, sleep patterns and much more.

Questions: Do you have Metabolic Syndrome? If not, are you unwittingly setting yourself up for it?

There are numerous medical criteria and lab markers which can tell you conclusively if you fall within the risk category. There are numerous risk factors which ought to be scrutinized, but here are the top five from our perspective:

Primary Risk Factors

1. Obesity, especially midsection fat (aka abdominal obesity)

2. Sustained elevated blood pressure

3. Elevated blood sugar levels

4. High triglyceride count

5. Low levels of HDL (High-density lipoprotein) which are aka the beneficial or good cholesterol

 

The following video offers a nice overview of what needs to be looked at closely in determining if you have Metabolic Syndrome (MBS).

Prevent and Stop Metabolic Syndrome

As the video indicates, even if you have 3 of these risk factors present, you’re on the way to exhibiting the full blown profile.

How did we get there, if 3 to 5 of these factors are present?

The Major Co-Factors of Metabolic Syndrome

• Diet ~ Diet ~ Diet

• Lack of Proper Exercise

• Sedentary Lifestyle

• Mismanagement of Stress

• Over-reliance on Comfort Food

• Improper Food Combinations

• Aging

• Genetic Predispositions

Each one of these co-factors warrants a major session. For the sake of brevity, we will bulletize the key points about what must be addressed in each of these categories.

(1) Diet is critical toward the proper management of MBS
-Remove all meat, processed food, white sugar, wheat, dairy, caffeine, alcohol, nicotine from the diet for an extended period of time … if not forever.  Wheat is okay if you don’t have gluten sensitivity or wheat intolerance.

(2) Proper Exercise is a primary pillar of any remediation program
– Aerobic exercise is crucial in both healthy stress management and keeping the weight off
– Performing exercises which address midsection fat are especially helpful

(3) Sedentary Lifestyle
– Get off the couch and away from the computer; and get out in the yard or take a walk in the park
– Bike, don’t drive everywhere
– Play some tennis, dance in your REC room, ski, power-walk, take a hatha yoga class, do some tai chi

(4) Mismanagement of Stress
– Don’t watch any negative TV programming, shock radio, tabloid nonsense
– Stay away from bad company – avoid debates, arguments and those who ‘Piss you off.”
– Relieve the pressures at work by having a “heart to heart” with the boss
– Resolve any marital conflict or relationship disharmony that is in your immediate space much of the time
– Meditate, Contemplate, Pray
– Power-walk, Deep breathing, Hatha Yoga
– Selfless Service, Charity work, Community Gardening
– Sing, Chant, Read Poetry
– “Be the peace you want to see in the world.”

(5) Over-reliance on Comfort Food
– Don’t buy the comfort foods which you’re addicted to; they are the biggest threat to reversing MB
– Find healthy, nutritious substitutes – there are many. A raw carrot is as sweet as it gets.
– Contemplate your addictions; identify the root causes; replace them with positive addictions

(6) Improper Food Combinations
– Incorrect food combining is a major problem for many of which they are unaware
– Healing With Whole Foods by Paul Pitchford will answer all your questions about this and much more

(7) Aging
– Resolve to age gracefully!
– You can’t stop it, can you?
– So go with the flow, especially you baby boomers who are trying to fix everything … Everything! Only causes more stress — the main underlying co-factor of MBS

(8) Genetic Predispositions
– If there is a family history of any of the following, then special precautions (smart preemptive measures) can be taken to prevent it from happening to you
a) Diabetes mellitus
b) Coronary heart disease
c) Hypertension
d) Hypothyroidism
e) Rheumatic diseases
f) Lipodystrophy
g) Schizophrenia, Schizoaffective disorder or Bipolar disorder

Childhood habits, routines and learned behavior are setting the stage for MBS … at younger ages.

Here is how our society is actually encouraging the development of MBS during the formative years of childhood.

Sugar Babies: The Rise of ‘Adult Onset’ Diabetes in Children

Stress – and its Healthy Management – is the KEY!

The healthy and efficient management of daily stress is absolutely critical to the success of reversing MBS. We didn’t put it first, bit it is the primary underlying co-factor of MBS. Therefore, daily stress management ought to be very high on your list of things to do.
Easy to say, hard to do.
Please be aware that LDL formation is much higher in those who have hypertension, high blood pressure, coronary heart disease, atherosclerosis, heart attacks, angina, strokes/TIAs, etc. Yes, no matter what other co-factors and risk factors are present, those who exhibit the typical stress profile have higher LDLs. That’s because both excessive stress and the mismanagement of stress creates them (bad cholesterol) in your body, even if you have a LOW cholesterol diet!
Got it.
We hope so, because this one co-factor) is really much more under your control than you realize.
So, try your best to get with a new program — one that is positive, constructive, optimistic, life-affriming, hopeful, realistic, contributing and giving.

May you enjoy great health,
The Health Coach

Excellent Resource:
The following link correlates a variety of natural remedies with the mitigation of Metabolic Syndrome.
GMI PUB: Metabolic Syndrome

This article originally appeared at TheHealthCoach.

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