THE SYNDROME X EPIDEMIC
Have you heard of it? Probably not, but if you eat the typical American diet, with all the refined, processed carbohydrates (cakes, cookies, sodas, ice cream and other sweets) you either have the syndrome or risk developing it.
Syndrome X describes a cluster of two or more related health problems. Central to the syndrome is insulin resistance, the inability to efficiently use insulin to help burn blood sugar. It is often accompanied by abdominal obesity, high blood pressure and elevated levels of cholesterol and triglycerides.
How does it develop? The more refined carbohydrates we consume, the faster the blood sugar rises after a meal. In response, the body pumps out large amounts of insulin to help move that blood sugar into cells. But insulin (a powerful hormone) also promotes fat storage, increased blood pressure and elevated cholesterol and triglyceride levels.
Almost 55 percent of Americans are overweight, a sign of syndrome X. In addition, 25 percent of thin people have insulin resistance, the cornerstone of syndrome X. Based on these numbers, more than 65 percent of American adults either have or are at risk of syndrome X.
All of this blood sugar and insulin generates large numbers of hazardous free radicals, which age the body and set the stage for heart disease, cancer, Alzheimer's and other diseases. To prevent syndrome X, take these steps:
* Avoid refined carbohydrates (cakes, cookies, refined flour and sugar products, etc.)
* Build your diet around plant foods: legumes, fruits, vegetables and nuts. A wide variety of vegetarian meats are available. Choose your favorites.
* Engage in some form of physical activity, such as walking, gardening, etc. --adapted from "Let's Live, Feb. 2000
MORE ABOUT INSULIN RESISTANCE:
Insulin is the juice that greases human metabolism. It "knocks" on cells to get them to open their "doors" to glucose, the sugary fuel we make of our food. For those who have Syndrome X, cells may ignore, or become "resistant," to insulin's "knock," so they don't let glucose in. Indeed, when the hormone can't push glucose into the cells, then glucose clutters up the bloodstream, causing problems.
Researcher George Howard, PhD, professor of biostatistics and epidemiology at Bowman Gray School of Medicine in Winston-Salem, NC, warns, "Insulin resistance is very bad, and it turns out to be related to everything--to atherosclerosis, to hypertension, to diabetes, to elevated triglycerides, and to clotting factors like fibrinogen. It's a very important risk factor for heart disease." --Prevention, May 1997.
"Abdominal fat appears to be related to insulin resistance," says Henry S. Kahn, MD, associate professor of family and preventive medicine at Emory Univ. School of Medicine in Atlanta. As a result, the blood sugar levels remain unusually high. It's possible that over time this resistance can cause the body to stop producing insulin, resulting in one form of middle-age diabetes. "Insulin resistance may also help create yet more abdominal fat," Dr. Kahn points out.
However, as has already been shown in an earlier post, only 10 percent of people diagnosed with diabetes have insufficient insulin. 90 percent have "insulin resistance." Here the pancreas produces plenty of insulin, but it doesn't work. It's blocked by a HIGH-FAT DIET, lack of exercise and obesity--which cause insulin resistance. This same process can cause high blood pressure, heart disease and other problems, according to Julian Whitaker's Health and Healing Newsletter, Dec. 1994.
Brothers and sisters, it seems that our major degenerative diseases--heart disease, high blood pressure, diabetes, etc. are related and are products of what we eat. Let us with prayer and humble hearts, review, study and implement the principles of our health message, as outlined in "The Ministry of Healing," "Counsels on Diet and Foods," and the other inspired health principles brought to us in the Spirit of Prophecy.
[This message has been edited by Suzanne Sutton (edited 11-09-2000).]