Metabolic rate and cardiovascular disease
To understand the relationship between metabolic rate and cardiovascular disease, you first have to know a little bit about metabolic syndrome. Metabolic syndrome is a group of symptoms which has everything to do with a person’s individual metabolism. Each of the conditions that constitute the metabolic syndrome is known to increase the risk of heart disease.
Depending on the origin of the condition, metabolic syndrome includes diabetes, obesity in the abdominal area, a low level of HDL Cholesterol (which is considered the good cholesterol), along with hypertension. As you can see, all these disease conditions are know to be precursors to serious heart ailments, with grave consequences, if not treated at the right time with proper medications. Metabolic syndrome has been identified as fallout of a combination of sedentary lifestyle, poor and imbalanced diet, as well as genetic factors.
Though there is continuous on-going research to find out more about metabolic syndrome and its relation to cardiovascular diseases, it has however been proven beyond doubt that the syndrome increases the chances of developing a host of ailments involving the heart and blood vessels. These may ultimately lead to heart attack, stroke, kidney diseases and quite often, result in premature death of an individual.
World Health Organization (WHO) has specified some criteria for diagnosis of this syndrome. These can also be treated as risk factors, which are precursors to developing metabolic syndrome. These include:
Abdominal – A waist line that is more than 40 inches for, and 35 inches for women
Elevated Triglycerides – greater than 150 mg/dL (1.7 mmol per L)
Low HDL Cholesterol – less than 35 mg/dL (0.9 mmol/L) for men, and less than 39 mg/dL (1.0 mmol/L) for women
High Blood Pressure – greater than 130/85 mm Hg
Fasting Blood Sugar greater than 110 mg/dL (6.1 mmol/L)
Type 2 Diabetes or Impaired Glucose Tolerance
Inflammatory State – Elevated C-reactive protein in the blood
Uncontrolled obesity, physical inactivity, repeated and uninterrupted consumption of processed carbohydrates, fatty acids and saturated fats are considered to be predisposing factors for metabolic syndrome, which lead to a range of cardiovascular diseases.
Those of use who consume more calories than we burn up are also at risk. This way, we encourage building up of fat. It is considered that if you have at least three of the above-mentioned risk factors, you have a high chance of developing heart diseases; if you have all the risk factors, your chances of developing heart ailments rise by 6 times. If you leave metabolic syndrome untreated, you may develop kidney and liver diseases as well as cancer.
Treating metabolic syndrome or even controlling its spread is relatively simple, if you follow some good and healthy lifestyle options and most importantly, if you lose weight.
Even a loss of 5 to 10% of your body weight can help in substantial improvement of the condition. Remove processed foods, including white flour and sugar, from your diet.
Instead, increase consumption of whole grains, beans and foods rich in fiber. Have plenty of fruits and vegetables. Increasing consumption of monounsaturated fats and omega-3 fatty acids (which are found in fish) should improve your condition as well.