What is the diet for metabolic syndrome?

Answer 1

There is some evidence that a diet of early mankind, i.e. fruits, low glycemic index vegetables, lean meats and nuts will ameliorate metabolic syndrome.

In an intriguing study done recently by Dr. Volek from the University of Connecticut, women with metabolic syndrome did best on a restricted carbohydrate diet that was high in saturated fat. As paradoxical as that sounds, metabolic syndrome simply does not have the same etiology as the classic male model of middle aged high cholesterol; rather it is the result of poorly regulated glucose and insulin levels. High insulin levels tend to depress HDL levels, high blood glucose causes inflammation of the blood vessels, and high carbohydrate diet in general tends to raise triglycerides. This in conjunction with a lack of physical activity gives us metabolic syndrome: low HDL, high level of inflammatory markers, high triglycerides, and insulin resistance. The obvious solution to this syndrome is a diet which lowers insulin and blood glucose levels as well as plenty of physical activity to increase insulin sensitivity.

The old adages "eat a diet low in fat, saturated fat and cholesterol" are fairly out-of-date since they are only designed to lower total cholesterol. Modern knowledge about the dynamics of fat and cholesterol in the diet with the cholesterol in your blood show that it is much more complicated than that. If you do a search on the low-glycemic index diet or low carbohydrate diet you will find the resources you need to cope with metabolic syndrome effectively, as the current recommendations from the American Heart Association are based on very old recommendations.