Let's Talk About Metabolic Syndrome (Syndrome X)

In addition to being the driving force behind type 2 diabetes, insulin resistance is also part and parcel of a condition called metabolic syndrome (formerly syndrome X).

Identified in the mid-1980s by Stanford University researcher Gerald Reaven, MD, metabolic syndrome is a cluster of disorders that includes obesity (particularly abdominal obesity), high blood pressure, elevated cholesterol and triglyceride levels, low HDL cholesterol (often referred to as “good” cholesterol, since it ushers excess cholesterol out of the body), and increased risk of heart disease and type 2 diabetes.

Dr. Reaven, observing that these seemingly unrelated disorders cropped up so often in the same individuals, determined that the one underlying constant was insulin resistance.

Though the natural treatments for diabetes that I often write about are geared toward people who are already managing diabetes, it is good to know that your efforts at beating diabetes can also help protect against hypertension, heart disease, and obesity.