Do you have metabolic syndrome?

Metabolic Health? What is that?

     We all know someone who died early of a heart attack, from a stroke, or from type 2 diabetes. The closest person to me in my life that died early, was my older brother, Fowler. Fowler was a kindhearted and loving soul that died from a heart attack secondary to metabolic disease, before seeing his 48th birthday.

     By way of sharing this part of my life with you, I hope to convey, in fact I pray to convey, the fact that we all have the means to prevent chronic diseases, including cardiovascular disease, stroke and type 2 diabetes from killing us early. The following statement is from an article out of the Mayo Clinic.

“Metabolic syndrome is a cluster of conditions that occur together, increasing your risk of heart disease, stroke and type 2 diabetes. These conditions include increased blood pressure, high blood sugar, excess body fat around the waist, and abnormal cholesterol or triglyceride levels.”

https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/metabolic-syndrome/symptoms-causes/syc-20351916

     Health (NIH), states that 88% of American adults are not in optimal metabolic health. If there is a cornerstone of health success and of chronic disease avoidance, it is metabolic health. Sadly, when I ask people how their metabolic health is, they look at me funny. They do not know the term or how it is measured. Yet, it is at the core of debilitating health situations that can shorten our lives by decades!

     Consider this compounding scary fact. The number one cause of bankruptcy in the U.S., is unpaid medical bills. (American Journal of Public Health, 2019) The medical bills we incur when dealing with chronic diseases are enormous! No matter how good your insurance is, the out-of-pocket cost incurred while battling chronic diseases are unimaginable and getting higher by the year. As if heart attacks, atherosclerosis (hardening of the arteries), Alzheimer’s disease, strokes, type 2 diabetes, amputations, and early death was not  enough, we get to endure it all while going broke, using up precious retirement savings, ruining our credit score, and fending off debt collectors.

     However, we all have free will and there is always a choice. The choice we can all make is to start learning about how to stop metabolic disease, reverse type 2 diabetes, reverse fat gain (especially fat gain around our organs), and improve our health metrics. The best thing about this decision is, it’s EASY. The only slightly difficult part about choosing this path is admitting to yourself, that no matter what you think you know, if your body is not doing what you want it to do in terms of health parameters, then what you know is either not enough, wrong, or misunderstood. Once you admit that your body is telling the truth about your knowledge base and the care you give it, the rest is easy.

     Too many people know more about operating their cell phone than they know about how to operate their own body. It always amazes me that when I talk to fit people, whether they are jacked, ripped, curvy, runners, bodybuilders, swimmers, bikers, seniors or not, they all have one thing in common. They all, to a person, have good solid body knowledge and have good eating, exercise, and sleep habits that they adhere to, week to week, month to month, year in and year out. None of them ever fall prey to the hype of flash in the pan diets, rebound diet failure or extremely restrictive lifestyles. They simply know more correct information.

     The first step is establishing our metabolic health condition. Once we determine our baseline, we can chart a course to remedy and reverse the situation.

     Here is the first step. It will take less than 10 minutes to do.

Pull out your lab results from your last physical and a flexible tape measure.

-Measure your waist circumference. Measure around your belly at your belly button level. If    you are a man, is it over 40”? If you are a woman, is it over 36”?                              Yes, or No?

-Are your triglycerides 150mg/dL or higher?                                                                 Yes, or No?

-Is your HDL below 40mg/dL if a man, or below 50mg/dL if a woman?              Yes, or No?

-Is your fasting blood glucose over 100mg/dL?                                                             Yes, or No?

-Is your blood pressure at or over 130/80mmHg?                                                         Yes, or No?

     Ideally, to be in optimal metabolic health, to have the lowest risk of developing chronic disease, you would have zero “Yes” answers to these questions. The less “Yes” answers, the better. If you have three or more “Yes” answers to these questions, you are defined as having metabolic syndrome which could be the beginning of metabolic disease which can lead to cardiovascular disease, stroke and type 2 diabetes. And, at the risk of sounding frightening, type 2 diabetes can lead to a whole host of horrible health issues including, amputation.

     The next step is simple. Schedule an appointment with your healthcare professional and discuss your “Yes” answers to these five simple questions. Personalized guidance, combined with learning and practical pointers is much better than a generalized, one-plan-fits-all approach, every time. Working with a Certified Nutrition Coach or a metabolic health focused Registered Dietician is monumentally better than attempting to do it on your own.

“We can all live longer and better. It’s not hard.”

-Thomas

https://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/health/conditions-and-diseases/metabolic-syndrome