Fixing metabolic syndrome

Metabolic syndrome is a primary driver of poor health throughout the developed world.

Metabolic syndrome is defined as a group of health conditions that raise the risk of developing serious illness, such as cardiovascular disease, stroke, liver and kidney disease, and diabetes.

These health conditions can include significant belly fat, high blood pressure, insulin resistance, high LDL cholesterol, low HDL cholesterol, high blood sugar levels, high levels of triglycerides and inflammation.

In the U.S. alone it is estimated that one-third of U.S. adults are dealing with metabolic syndrome.

Not so long ago, I personally was dealing with a low level of metabolic syndrome.  I was carrying around too much fat around the belly, my blood sugar level was a bit high and my triglyceride level was too high.

Fortunately, I was able to reverse these issues, which I will get to in a bit.

People who are dealing with metabolic syndrome are often those who are taking medications for a variety of conditions.

They’ll be taking medication to lower their LDL cholesterol (statins), lower their blood pressure, reduce their triglycerides and to help with pain.

While this cocktail of medications helps people stay alive from one day to the next, it doesn’t do much for their actual health.

All these medications do is provide symptomatic relief.

And there is a significant risk of harmful interactions among these drugs.

How to fix metabolic syndrome

There are four steps to fixing metabolic syndrome.

• Diet
• Increased daily activity
• Strength training
• Cardiovascular exercise

First, it should be noted that while obesity has not been proven to be a cause of metabolic syndrome, more often than not, it present.

Therefore, the first place to start is with diet.

The fact of the matter is that most people need to change their relationship with food.

“Do not seek pleasure from food.” Miyamoto Musashi, Dokkodo

In this age of social media, not a day goes by where you won’t find people posting pictures of their meal or themselves with an alcoholic beverage in hand.

For many people, food is a source of comfort, a way to get away from the stresses of the day.

Food for them is like alcohol to the alcoholic, or drugs to the drug addict.

We literally have a category of food known as “comfort food.”

Every family gathering is always centered around food, and most of the time, it is not very healthy food.

Consider Thanksgiving and all of the starchy carbs served at dinner followed by pie and other treats for dessert.

The entire holiday seems to be focused on eating as much food as possible and then passing out watching football.

With a culture centered around food, it is no wonder we have an obesity rate over over 40%.

People dealing with obesity need to learn to eat to live, rather than live to eat.

This involves eliminating most of the time many of the foods we eat for pure pleasure and comfort… pizza, lasagna, cake, etc.

Keep in mind I said “most of the time.”

It’s ok to celebrate now and then.

Most of the time, however, you should emphasize eating a healthy diet.

Increased daily activity

Most people who are obese tend to lead a sedentary lifestyle.

If they aren’t sitting at a desk at work, they are sitting at home watching TV or playing video games.

Combined with a poor diet, this lack of activity results in weight gain since not enough calories are burned to offset the amount of calorie intake.

Many people often comment how when they travel to foreign countries, people are leaner.

A big reason for this is simply that, overall, these people are more active.  They tend to walk far more than we do.

Did you know that golfers tend to live longer than non-golfers?

Keep in mind, there was no distinction between golfers who typically walk the golf course and those who use a cart.

Even if you ride a cart, you are still doing some walking throughout the round and you are spending time in the sun and fresh air.

Therefore, it’s a great idea to find an activity that keeps you on your feet for a couple hours each day.

Playing a sport like tennis, training in a martial art, or just taking long walks will go a long way toward fighting off metabolic syndrome.

Strength training

By now, just about everyone knows that muscle burns more energy than fat.

Therefore, increasing the amount of muscle mass you carry will result in a higher metabolism.

Strength training in its many forms is the path you take to build muscle.

People who train to actually increase their strength significantly will often train with barbells with compound exercises such as the squat, deadlift, bench press and overhead press.

When you train these exercises, you are training more muscle mass at a time, and as a result, you will have greater success at building significant muscle mass over a shorter period of time.

Strength training is also an activity that keeps your heart rate up and therefore you are going to burn some calories as well.

Cardiovascular exercise

The last step you need to take is to incorporate cardiovascular exercise (cardio).

Cardiovascular exercise is effectively any exercise that keeps your heart rate above normal for a period of time.

While cardio is obviously good for training your heart, it also helps to improve your metabolism and boost your ability to burn fat more efficiently throughout the day.

How to fix metabolic syndrome – final thoughts

You will notice that I did not name any specific type of diet, tell you a specific number of calories to eat, or tell you exactly how to exercise.

Everyone has their own preferences in that regard.

Also, it’s a good idea to follow the Shaolin Rule of No Extremes.

If you eat too much, you will get fat.  However, if you eat too little, you will whither away and die.

If you train too little, you won’t get strong.  If you train too much or too hard, you may injure yourself and then you won’t be able to train.

With that said, you can’t be too easy on yourself.

Most people have no idea how hard they can actually train because they’ve never tried to train hard.

However, you need to slowly build that ability.

Most people fail to fix their metabolic syndrome permanently because that don’t follow the Rule of No Extremes.

They try a diet that is too restrictive, try to do too much cardio, etc., and then they get burned out.

To be successful at fighting metabolic syndrome, you need to start conservatively, experience some small wins, and build from there.

The key is to get started and quit procrastinating.

Your health depends on it, and so do your loved ones and colleagues.

Now, get to work!