Diet For Metabolic Syndrome X

The diet for Metabolic Syndrome is really not a diet as such – more of a change in lifestyle habits. Understanding the Syndrome X diet and lifestyle is crucial to arresting the slide.

The key point to remember is that Metabolic Syndrome X is a nutritional disease….poor nutritional choices have created it.

Adjusting lifestyle to allow your body to reap the benefits of a Metabolic Syndrome diet will have the added benefit of slowing down the aging process AND helping lose weight (if you need to).

You are probably beginning to realise by now, that the western world’s fascination with highly processed foods over the past 60 years is largely responsible for Metabolic Syndrome and the end stage degenerative diseases that it leads to – namely diabetes mellitus and cardiovascular disease.

The GOOD news is that it is preventable and treatable by changing your food choices. By simply thinking about what we are putting in our mouths and comparing it to just how much it resembles how that food would have appeared in nature, can give a solid clue to its glycemic index rating.

For example, hamburger trees are not native to planet Earth. Likewise cola does not rain down upon us (although some kids would enjoy that). Cornflakes are not harvested from bushes on the plains and deposited straight into the cereal box.

The reality is that a significant proportion of the foodstuffs that are easily accessible to us when we are hungry, are products that are a fairly recent fabrication in the history of the world.

Why do you think that is?

Ironic advertising placement

A lot of creative people have brainstormed ways in which to present food to us in easy to manage, easy to prepare, easy to eat methods that allow them to extract lots of dollars from the population.

Each time food passes through some form of processing, it is stripped of some degree of its nutritional value. The old gag about the cardboard box having more nutrient value than the cereal it contains is not that far from the truth in a lot of cases.

Back to Basics

1) Avoid simple carbohydrates such as white rice, white flour, white sugar and other sweeteners.

2) Consume foods that are fresh and as close to their natural state as possible.

3) Your primary source of carbohydrates should be from non-starchy vegetables.

4) Moderate your intake of carbohydrate dense foods ensuring those you do have are nutritious.

5) Avoid soft drinks, fruit juices, alcohol and other processed drinks.

6) Use cold pressed, extra virgin olive oil instead of vegetable oils that are rich in omega-6 fats.

7) Ensure that your intake includes as much omega-3 fats as possible.

8) Avoid trans-fatty acids. These are in deep fried food, margarine and food that contains partially hydrogenated oils.

9) Eat some protein as part of each meal or snack.

A diet for Metabolic Syndrome will have particular emphasis on chicken, fish and vegetables being encouraged. Avoidance of refined foods like breads, pastas, pastries, sweets and cooking oils (other than olive oil) is critical to the success of your quest.

The hardest part of following a diet for Metabolic Syndrome is the initial changing of habits. Planning ahead to ensure you have the appropriate food on hand when you will be hungry may require a shift in priorities but ask yourself this –

“Am I prepared to put a bit of time in planning meals now, or would I rather spend it sitting in medical waiting rooms when I am older?”

For further detail on the concepts discussed here please visit Healthy For Life . This site is packed with info on topics like “recommended foods to eat”, meal plans, healthy recipes and there is a health risk assessment you can take. If you find this site to be of interest and want to join any of the programs, please send me a message from the contact form below with a request for the discount code.

Hope you find this as useful and educational as we have.