WHAT IS METABOLIC SYNDROME AND HOW IS IT RELATED TO BRAIN HEALTH:

Metabolic Syndrome is often mischaracterized as getting old. But the truth is metabolic syndrome relates to multiple conditions that can be controlled by restricting our carbohydrate intake.  It starts silently when you become insulin resistant. Most likely for years in the making due to our intake of processed foods, sugar, and other substances. 

Metabolic Syndrome can remain “unnoticed” for years and is often undiagnosed by physicians. 

You may notice more fat around your belly and think your just over-eating or believe your just“getting old” or “starting menopause”.  Metabolic Syndrome becomes a full diagnosis when you meet three of these five criteria:

Low Cholesterol HDL, 

High triglyceride levels, 

A Fasting blood glucose of over 100, 

High Blood Pressure (135/80)  

A waste circumference of 35 inches or more for women and over 40” inches for men.

Metabolic Syndrome is linked with a multitude of health issues. But the impact typically takes this course:

 Pre-diabetes, Diabetes 2, Dementia also referred to now as Diabetes 3

Early symptoms can include inflammation, brain fog, depression, anxiety to name a few.

WHY DIET ALONE CAN’T FIX THIS:

Dieting sounds like an easy solution. But for many, diets fail for many reasons-particularly if you don’t have the support from friends and family encouraging you to stay the course. Dieting also fails because it avoids the discussion around our addictions to processed foods, sugar, alcohol and drugs—all of which reinforces our brains reward center by activating dopamine yet does little to support good health.

We crave these things even more so when we’re stressed out, tired, angry, and lonely. 

We also need to recognize the impact Covid has had on all of us. Mental health issues have statistically risen for all age groups since the start of Covid.  This is because we have been forced to isolate. And, isolation has become habitual since many things are accessed online.