Syndrome X – Why You Can’t Shed Weight Successfully

The way that we lead our lives today may be having a potentially devastating and possibly fatal effect upon our bodies. While this bold statement might sound like we’re scaremongering, there is a good deal of truth behind it. You only have to look as far as Syndrome X - which, despite its name, is a very real condition that affects millions of people across the globe. Indeed, scientists believe that rather alarmingly Syndrome X may affect as many as 1 in 5 people - or a staggering 20% of the population - with the prevalence rate in some countries such as the United States being as high as 1 in 4 adults. In other words, in countries like the US, Syndrome X could be affecting as much as one quarter of the adult population. However, it’s a condition that remains virtually unheard of in the general population.

So just what is Syndrome X?

These days, most of us are well aware of the fact that there are a group of symptoms (risk factors) that are strongly associated with an increased risk of developing Type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular diseases such as heart attack and stroke. And it’s this combination of medical disorders that is referred to as Syndrome X. Just to confuse matters, you might find that rather than being called Syndrome X, the condition is referred to as one of the following alternatives:

• Metabolic Syndrome X or Metabolic syndrome
• Reaven’s syndrome (named after the Stanford researcher Dr Gerald Reaven who ironically coined the term Syndrome X in the late 1980’s)
• CHAOS (the Australian name for it)
• Insulin resistance syndrome

Why the presence of Syndrome X causes the body to react in the way that it does is still not fully understood, what we do know is that symptoms of Syndrome X include:

• Being apple shaped - in other words you suffer from central obesity (sometimes called visceral or male pattern adiposity) which means that you put weight on around your middle


• Finding it difficult to lose weight


• High blood pressure (hypertension)


• High cholesterol levels hypercholesterolemia) - particularly low HDL and high LDL levels


• High triglyceride levels (hypertriglyceridemia)


• Coronary heart disease


• Heart palpitations


• Uncontrolled diabetes


• Hormonal disturbances


• Polycystic Ovary Syndrome


• Mental difficulties such as depression, memory problems and a lack of general mental acuity - in other words your mind just doesn’t seem that sharp anymore


• Peripheral neuropathy (damage to the nerves of the peripheral nervous system)


• Fatigue


• Sleep apnea


• Skin tags and brown to black, poorly defined, velvety hyper-pigmentation of the skin, usually found in body folds


• Blurred vision

For many people the fact that they have unsuccessfully tried to lose weight is one of the classic indicators that they are suffering from Syndrome X. In fact, Syndrome X is the most common reason why people can’t lose weight especially as they get older. This is in part linked to the fact that if you have Syndrome X you’re going to be insulin resistant which almost always results in weight gain, but also because Syndrome X affects normal liver function. If your liver is not working properly, it will start to store fat which is visible as fat being laid down in the abdominal area.

But it’s not just an inability to lose weight that can make Syndrome X a potentially devastating condition. You only have to read through the above list of symptoms to realize that Syndrome X could have a catastrophic affect upon a person. For example, around 50% of patients with coronary heart disease also suffer from Syndrome X and if you suffer from both cardiovascular disease and Syndrome X then research has shown that you are around 3 times more likely to die from cardiovascular disease even after other risk factors have been controlled.

Clearly then Syndrome X should not be ignored as its consequences are potentially devastating. But just as it may go by a number of different names, so there are a number of different ways of actually diagnosing that you have the condition. According to the criteria as set out by the US Third National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANESIII), and the National Institute of Health (NIH), a person has Syndrome X if they have three or more of the following:

• A waist circumference greater that 40 inches (102 cm) in men, greater that 35 inches (88 cm) in women


• A serum triglyceride level above 150mg/L (1.7 mmol/L)


• HDL cholesterol below 40 mg/dL (1.04 mmol/L) in men, below 50 mg/dL (1.29) in women


• Blood pressure raised; above 135mg/85mm Hg, or taking a hypertensive medication


• Fasting blood glucose above 110mg/dL (6.1 mmol/L) or taking anti-diabetic medication

Even though possibly up to a quarter of the population may develop Syndrome X, it is still possible to identify those most at risk of developing the condition. The most important risk factors are:

• Being overweight


• Being older - almost half of the US population over the age of 50 is thought to have Syndrome X!


• Having a sedentary lifestyle i.e. low physical activity and high calorie intake


• Having a degree of insulin resistance i.e. where the body’s insulin becomes less effective at lowering blood sugars


• And in many cases having elevated levels of a number of blood markers such as Interleukin 6, C-Reactive Protein, Tumor Necrosis Factor-alpha and Fibrinogen

To put it quite simply therefore if you’re obese, don’t exercise much if at all, insulin resistant and older, you’re a prime candidate for Syndrome X, although some would argue that obesity and insulin resistance are in fact symptoms rather than causes.

There are number of other factors that come into play such as having certain diseases predisposes you to developing Syndrome X. Whilst it won’t come as a surprise to learn that Type 2 diabetes or pre-diabetes is one such disease, other diseases such as schizophrenia appear to be heavily associated with Syndrome X. It also seems to be more prevalent in women than in men.

But lifestyle factors appear to play an equally large part in whether you are more or less likely to develop Syndrome X. This probably stems from the fact that whilst 21st Century life is radically different from the life experienced by our prehistoric forefathers, our bodies simply haven’t been able to keep up with the rapid pace of change. Our bodies may still be hardwired to live the life of a Stone Age hunter-gatherer despite the fact that we now live in a very modern, highly automated, well-fed world. Our diets, activity levels and whole ways of life have changed beyond all recognition - our bodies simply lag behind.

Syndrome X Lifestyle factors

Lifestyle factors that relate specifically to Syndrome X include:

Overweight/obese

With Syndrome X weight gain is predominantly found around the abdomen which, as mentioned above, is medically termed central adiposity. And while central adiposity might well be obvious from just looking at someone who has that classic apple shape, it is technically defined as:

• Men - a waist circumference greater than 102 cm (40 in) with a waist-hip ratio of greater than 0.9


• Women - a waist circumference of greater than 88 cm (35 in) with a waist-hip ratio of greater than 0.85

A word of caution though - while central adiposity is a key feature of Syndrome X, you could be of normal weight but still have Syndrome X if other symptoms exist.

Sedentary lifestyle

To an extent this goes hand in hand with being overweight, as it stands to reason that if you are sedentary and eat more calories than you burn up through exercise, you’ll put on weight. But being sedentary also influences a number of other health factors. For example, if you are physically inactive then you’re much more likely to have high levels of “bad” LDL cholesterol and high blood pressure.

Stress

Being stressed over long periods of time certainly isn’t good for our health. In particular, it causes levels of the hormone cortisol to rise. This is definitely bad news because high cortisol levels can result in a number of health problems including central adiposity, high blood pressure and insulin resistance - all key markers of Syndrome X.

Syndrome X and Insulin Resistance

The problem is that for many once they have developed Syndrome X changing their lifestyle to try and ameliorate its affects can be difficult particularly when it comes to weight gain. As we’ve already mentioned, putting weight on around your abdomen is one of the main indicators that you may indeed have Syndrome X. But, as so many of us know only too well, trying to shift that sort of weight can be incredibly difficult.

One of the reasons for this is insulin resistance - one of the main risk factors when it comes to Syndrome X. Insulin resistance has a direct effect on weight gain. Insulin itself is vital for life because it helps move glucose from our blood streams in to our cells where it provides the energy that our cells need to function. We get our glucose supply from carbohydrates found in the food. Normally the amount of insulin in our blood matches the glucose supply so everything is well balanced. But if we eat too much carbohydrate rich foods and our insulin levels keep rising in response, our cells will eventually become less receptive to the effects of insulin - in other words they become insulin resistant.

Ultimately insulin resistance stops glucose from being transferred into your cells and your cells don’t get the energy that they need. Blood sugar levels continue to go up and instead of being used for energy the glucose is stored by the body as fat and you become fatigued. Unfortunately because your cells are short of energy, you start to get hunger pangs and begin to crave carbohydrate-rich food and you find yourself trapped in a vicious circle. The more carbohydrates you consume, the greater your insulin resistance becomes and the higher your blood glucose levels become, the more weight you put on. If your condition is not brought under control, full blown Type 2 diabetes will occur.

And if that wasn’t enough, to add insult to injury, insulin resistance also has a dramatic affect on aging. Glucose doesn’t just provide energy for your cells - it also fuels a process known as glycation. This is a chemical process that occurs when glucose molecules bind with proteins or fats. Glycation is bad news because it results in the production of rogue molecules known as an AGEs (advanced glycation end products). AGEs react with other proteins and cause all sorts of cellular mayhem. In particular, the havoc that they can wreck has been directly associated with many aging diseases.

And while everyone will gradually suffer from the effects of AGEs as they inevitably build up in our bodies as we age, those who are insulin resistant are especially vulnerable. If you stop for a moment to think about it, it’s easy to see why. Glycation relies on the presence of glucose molecules and if you are insulin resistant then, as we explained above, you’ll have even more glucose available in your blood stream to fuel this highly destructive process.

Syndrome X – A Remedy

So if you’re one of the millions of people around the world that simply can’t shed weight successfully especially the older you’re getting, Syndrome X could be to blame.

While the situation may sound hopeless, there are treatments available to you. By simply taking a convenient single capsule dose of Diet Pro† before each meal you can achieve many of the benefits that come from a low carbohydrate diet. By helping to slow carbohydrate absorption, Diet Pro helps to improve the body’s insulin regulation which is immensely beneficial to your health. For example, by bringing your insulin regulation under control you diminish your risks of developing full blown Type 2 diabetes. Bringing your blood sugars and insulin levels under control is also crucially important if you want to successfully lose weight on a long term basis.

Conclusion

For those suffering from Syndrome X, Diet Pro offers a convenient, simple yet effective way of tackling the issue of carbohydrate consumption and the devastating effects that too many carbohydrates can have on your body.

Acknowledgements

All other names and marks may be (registered) trademarks of their owners, and are used for reference or identification only.