| Metabolic Syndrome And Diet
This post is an effort to give some insight into what we call Metabolic Syndrome and how diet may be a major factor in its cause.
Metabolic Syndrome defined:
1. Insulin resistance
2. High blood pressure
3. Visceral fat (beer belly)
4. High fasting glucose
5. High LDL cholesterol
6. Low HDL cholesterol
7. High Triglycerides
Sorry, the post is long but it takes many words to express the idea. Don’t go “glassy eyed” and give up. The post involves the definition items 5, 6, 7 above.
We start with a Lipid particle called Very Low Density Lipoprotein, “VLDL” for short. This little guy, VLDL can be thought of as a little balloon that transports the dreaded Triglycerides to the fat cells for storage. Remember Triglycerides are the little molecules composed of 3 units of fat. Now the “Fat” in these little balloons does not come from the fat you eat. Oh no, the fat in these little VLDL balloons is manufactured in the liver from glucose and other sugars. That’s right, you can eat sugar and your liver converts it into a fat package called Triglyceride. It stuffs thousands of these “fat pills” into a Lipoprotein balloon called VLDL and sends it out into the blood stream where it circulates and drops off little packages of “fat pills” at the fat cells. Bottom line, sugar in the mouth converts to fat in the butt or belly or elsewhere in the body.
Now to make it complicated (slightly).
Now the size of the VLDL balloons becomes very important to the argument! So, read carefully here. If you eat in a way that causes high blood sugars and high insulin the VLDL balloons become very large and very numerous. Many large VLDL balloons equals “high triglycerides”. If you eat sugars and carbohydrates in away that does not result in high glucose and insulin (a healthy diet and healthy metabolism) the balloons formed are called IDL (Intermediate Density Lipoprotein) and are smaller and there are fewer of them. These smaller and less numerous IDL particles end up as “Large Fluffy LDL” particles. They are quite healthy!
Now we ask ourselves what causes high blood sugar and high insulin. Well the answer is a person with insulin resistance eating a high carbohydrate meal. Yes, the evil in the world, the devil that stands between me and all the carrot cake and ice cream I can eat is the devil “INSULIN RESISTANCE”. Now as in Casa Blanca we round up the usual suspects that may be spreading the evil insulin resistance among the good people of the world. I will cut to the chase, the suspect than needs to be taken to the basement and beaten with rubber hoses is none other than Mr. Fructose. Read your research on Pubmed, the prime suspect is over indulgence over long periods of time of dietary fructose. Where is this suspect hiding? Well, sugar (sucrose) is 50% fructose, High Fructose Corn Syrup is 55%+ fructose, and all that “healthy” fruit contains fructose. How many witnesses with metabolic syndrome could take the witness stand to defend Mr. Fructose by testifying they eat only teeny-tiny amounts of fructose. That’s a joke, almost all of us eat to much fructose! I could go on and name a coconspirator that being any refined carbohydrate. But I have preached enough.
Now important ideas are missing, allow me to continue.
To fully grasp the horror here we must follow the LVDL particle through its life cycle. The “large” VLDL particles (stuffed with triglycerides) are made in the liver under conditions of high glucose and insulin. They travel the body leaving small triglyceride packets thus inflating the fat cells. Here is the horror of horrors. When they run out of their triglyceride cargo they become “Small Dense LDL”. That’s right VLDL morphs into LDL and not nice “Large Fluffy LDL”. No, it becomes the most dreaded lipid of all, “Small Dense LDL”. And it does not stop there! Remember in this situation, many VLDL particles are created. Too many VLDL particles morph into too many LDL particles. Thus we have “high LDL”. Hand me my Lipitor with the carrot cake!
I am almost done, but one more item of horror. The liver destroys one HDL (good cholesterol) particle to construct each VLDL particle. Thus “low HDL”.
Summary:
1.Over the years excess fructose and refined carbohydrate intake causes insulin resistance.
2. Eating a high carbohydrate meal with insulin resistance induces excess production of VLDL. (High Triglycerides).
3. One HDL particle is destroyed for each VLDL particle produced. (Low HDL).
4. VLDL ends its life as numerous “Small Dense LDL”. (High LDL).
Now, this sketch leaves out much detail. Note the argument given above does not convict carbs as a “bad thing”. The argument does imply that eating “excess” fructose for years and eating to many “fast acting carbs” at a meal may lead to Metabolic Syndrome. There is carb Use and carb Abuse. I hope it will cause you to be more interested in and read more about this very complex and important subject.
I will leave it to the reader to figure out how an appropriate diet may aid in overcoming the Metabolic Syndrome.
This knowledge has been useful for me and I wanted to pass it on to you.
Thank you for reading my post!  | 
