METABOLIC SYNDROME AND OMYLIFE

Metabolic syndrome is a difficult to define precursor to type II diabetes. Many of my OMY friends will have the syndrome, and doing nothing about it will ease them into a diabetic state – not a happy OMYLIFE.

In this post, I’m going to describe metabolic syndrome (also called pre-diabetes) and then tell you what you can do to reverse it. This turnaround is crucial because it’s extremely difficult (but not impossible) to come back from full-blown type II diabetes.

So while you still can, let’s look at the metabolic syndrome by first defining its characteristic symptoms. For reference purposes, those of you wanting a deeper look into this syndrome, here is a link to the Mayo Clinic’s page on the issue: mayoclinic metabolic syndrome.

Metabolic Syndrome Warning Signs:

Let’s Look at these Individually:

The following three issues are things you can monitor yourself.

Obesity:

Metabolic syndrome is often found in obese people. Obesity is defined by the waist size of men and women; over 40″ in men and over 53″ in women. The other measure is the BMI scale which uses weight and height to give you a number. If this number is over 30, you are considered obese.

There are classes of obesity using the BMI scale, which I won’t go into here, the score of 30 is sufficient for our purposes. Although estimates vary, the metabolic syndrome rate is around 40% for obese people.

With a bathroom scale, you can easily find your BMI score, and you can easily measure your waist size. If you’re in the obese category in both of these measures, this is a certain warning sign, and you should schedule a meeting with your PCHC (Personal Health Care Provider) for further testing. Being obese does not mean you have metabolic syndrome – this is for your PHCP to evaluate.

Here’s more information on using the BMI scale: obesity/basics.

High Blood Pressure:

Blood pressure readings in a doctor’s office are unreliable for several reasons. First, you should have a home blood pressure monitor; here’s the one I use: a 3-series blood pressure monitor. This monitor is inexpensive, and you can search for the best price.

Know your resting blood pressure before you see your PHCP. He or she will take your blood pressure anyway, but there is no reason you shouldn’t know it already. Here’s the proper way to get your resting blood pressure: blood pressure – FIND YOUR BASELINE.

Note that there are two numbers describing blood pressure – a top number and a bottom number. Not every expert agrees on blood pressure numbers, but a top number over 130 and/or a bottom number over 85 usually qualify as high blood pressure.

Keep records and explain them to your PHCP. If you have high blood pressure and are obese, you have a high probability of having metabolic syndrome.

Dry Mouth and Frequent Urination:

These are both relative conditions that can happen to anyone at any time. When these become persistent and annoying, you have an abnormal situation that warrants a discussion with your PHCP.

These symptoms can evolve for many reasons, not just metabolic syndrome, so see a professional. Don’t pass these things off as a minor inconvenience, age, or as something you ate. These occurrences might be serious. Be safe, don’t be sorry.

Check your urine to catch deviations early. This check is easy, and you should be doing it regularly. Here are my instructions for home urine testing: Home URINE TESTS. This testing is simple, but you still need to know the rules. They’re in my post on urine tests.

The following four issues require a blood test:

High Fasting Blood Sugar:

High fasting blood sugar is caused (among some other things) by insulin resistance. Insulin deals with sugar floating around in your bloodstream. Insulin either turns blood glucose into a different form that gets stored in your liver, or it turns glucose into fat and stores it in your fat (adipose) tissues.

When these two mechanisms aren’t working, insulin builds up in your bloodstream, and so do sugar and fat (more on fat later). This buildup is a warning sign that you might have metabolic syndrome.

In fact, with high blood sugar and the three above conditions, you probably have metabolic syndrome and should start working with your PHCP to do something about it. It is important to stress that your PHCP has some other testing to do before making a diagnosis. We’ll talk about them next.

Insulin Resistance:

In the previous section, I talked about insulin resistance and will explain how it happens. Your liver, fat, and other organs have lots of insulin receptors like light sockets where insulin connects. This plugging process allows insulin to deliver glucose molecules into their destination organ.

When you have sugar overload, your pancreas produces insulin in greater amounts, pushing harder to stuff glucose into your liver and make excess glucose into fat. In simple terms, your glucose/fat receptors get clogged, and trying to compensate; your pancreas floods your bloodstream with more and more insulin to get rid of the glucose.

Eventually, your organs revolt by closing the doors to insulin – you are now insulin resistant. In reality, it’s far more complicated but think of stuffing your car’s trunk with baggage until you can’t close the lid. Nothing more can come in, so the luggage sits on the curb like insulin in your bloodstream. This backup is a critical mechanism in metabolic syndrome formation.

Here’s more on insulin resistance: insulin-resistance

High Triglycerides and Low HDL:

Because insulin can no longer do its job under resistance, glucose, and fat buildup in your bloodstream, we’ve already talked about high blood sugar, but what about fat? Insulin’s second choice after putting glucose into your liver, Is to turn excess glucose into fat. This situation is where triglycerides come in. Usually, these fats get pushed into fat tissues, but when these tissue doors are closed, the fat floats around in your blood.

Insulin resistance and high triglycerides go together and are markers of metabolic syndrome. But what about HDL, the so-called good cholesterol? It is a complex issue, but suffice it to say that triglycerides and HDL have an inverse relationship, meaning when one goes up, the other comes down, so high triglycerides and low HDL go together. Both are present in metabolic syndromes.

To see more, go here: high-triglycerides-and-low-hdl

A1c Score Over 5.5:

A1c is a blood test that measures blood sugar levels over the past 90 days. Why 90 days? Because your blood cells turn over every 90 days. The A1c test is diagnostic, and usually (but not all doctors agree) a score over 5.5 marks the beginning of metabolic syndrome, and one over 7.0 marks full-blown type II diabetes.

Not everyone agrees with these numbers, but that’s irrelevant to our discussion. If you’re over 5.5, you need to take action – you’re headed for type II diabetes, and it’s only a matter of time.

Note: Never accept a diagnosis of metabolic syndrome or type II diabetes without a second A1c test a couple of weeks later. Blood tests can be wrong, and other mistakes can happen. Be safe, don’t be sorry; this is a serious issue.

So What if You Have Metabolic Syndrome?

Luckily, there are action steps you can take to reverse this syndrome. Here they are:

Lose Weight:

Being overweight and/or obese is the leading cause of metabolic syndrome in most people. The only solution to this problem is to lose weight – period. To help with this challenge, I have written a post to help you understand the weight loss issue and how to do it while staying healthy. Here it is: HOW TO LOSE WEIGHT FAST

Change Your Diet:

Fight metabolic syndrome. Stop eating junk food. Just stop it. Avoid fast food – most of it is empty calories. Stay away from heat and eat foods. And finally, shun boxes and cans of prepared foods. As Jack Lalane said: “If man made it don’t eat it.” This change will take some planning but eating real food can be done. If you slip up, get started again, and don’t give up.

Stop eating sweets, all sweets. Sugar is your enemy, it’s trying to kill you. Think about it that way. Also, bread is another form of sugar – especially white doughy bread -stay away from it. Avoid highly starchy foods. here’s a helpful article: starchy-vs-non-starchy-vegetables.

Eat fats freely. It is very difficult for your body to turn fat into body fat. So don’t be fat-phobic eat all the healthy fats you want. Fat is satiating and will help fight hunger.

Exercise:

If you can’t do anything else, get up and walk. Do it consistently every day for as long as you can until you get to thirty minutes a day. Don’t worry about speed, worry about time. When you get your time right then start upping your speed until you get to a brisk walk.

If you want more of an exercise challenge read this: BEGINNER WORKOUT TRIAD.

Family History of Metabolic Syndrome and Diabetes:

If the duo of metabolic syndrome and diabetes runs in your family, especially in close relatives, you must start early in your fight against metabolic syndrome. Assume you have it – lose weight now, and clean up your diet. Start an exercise program. Do real exercise: “real” EXERCISE.

Summary:

You now know a lot about metabolic syndrome. Its symptoms and causes. You also know how to fight it. Work with your PCHP to get through this. You can win on this one. Here’s a summary essay on metabolic syndrome that is very thorough and fairly easy to read:

What is metabolic syndrome? And can it be reversed?

OMY1

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