in today's video we are going to be talking about metabolic syndrome what it is and five steps you
can take to reverse it metabolic syndrome is characterized by five main components
a large waist circumference high triglycerides low hdl cholesterol high blood pressure and high
fasting blood sugar if you have three or more of these you'll be diagnosed with metabolic syndrome
and having metabolic syndrome isn't just about your weight it can increase your risk of several
diseases as well these include heart disease fatty liver disease type 2 diabetes and pcos in women to
name a few but if you do have metabolic syndrome not all hope is lost it is possible to reverse the
symptoms improve your health and reduce further disease risk so in today's video we are going
to talk about what metabolic syndrome is and what causes it and five steps you can take to reverse
it and these tips are not going to be the generic and extremely vague tips that we always hear about
these are going to be a lot more specific and actions that you can start implementing today
hey guys welcome back to my channel if you're new here my name's kait i'm a health coach and
i post videos on a high fat nutrient dense way of eating if you like this video please
give it a thumbs up feel free to share and make sure to subscribe and make sure to follow me on
instagram twitter and facebook where i show new posts every single day the rate at which we see
metabolic syndrome occurring is increasing with more and more people being diagnosed every year
as i mentioned before the recommendations we receive on how to deal with metabolic syndrome
are extremely vague and not very helpful we have all heard the classic eat less and move more
but if it were really that simple we would be seeing the rates of metabolic syndrome decrease
and not increase and a lot of people will say that it comes down to willpower they will say
that people are just lazy that they don't follow their doctor's recommendations and that is the
problem but here's the thing the recommendations that most healthcare professionals are giving
are setting people up for failure you do not have to eat a severely calorie restricted diet
to reverse metabolic syndrome you do not have to kill yourself every day at the gym either there is
a much simpler approach that leads to maintainable results and we will get to that in just a minute
but first off we are going to talk a little bit more about what causes metabolic syndrome
because the answer isn't as simple as you might think what causes metabolic syndrome as i said at
the start metabolic syndrome is characterized by five main components a large waist circumference
for women this is over 35 inches or 89 centimeters and for men this is over 40 inches or 102
centimeters high triglycerides over 150 milligrams per deciliter or 1.8 millimolars per liter
low hdl cholesterol less than 50 milligrams per deciliter or 1.3 millimolars per liter for women
and less than 40 milligrams per deciliter or one millimolar per liter for men high blood pressure
and high fasting blood sugar over 100 milligrams per deciliter or 5.6 millimolars per liter if
you have three or more of these components you have metabolic syndrome but here's the thing
it's not just a coincidence that all of these conditions go hand in hand there is something
at the root which is causing them and that something is insulin resistance metabolic syndrome
actually used to be called insulin resistance syndrome and the name insulin resistance syndrome
is actually a lot more helpful because it tells us what's causing the symptoms
a large waist circumference means you have excess visceral fat which is a type of fat
stored within the abdominal cavity this is well known to be directly caused by insulin resistance
in someone who is insulin resistant fat is not being stored properly so a lot ends
up accumulating in the abdomen as visceral fat high triglycerides and low hdl are also directly
related to insulin resistance when people reverse insulin resistance their triglycerides go down
and their hdl goes up blood pressure is the same thing over 90 percent of high blood pressure cases
are caused by insulin resistance and when the resistance is reversed blood pressure returns
to normal and the final component of metabolic syndrome is high fasting blood sugar insulin is
the hormone that is responsible for transporting glucose or sugar from our bloodstream to our cells
now when we are insulin resistant our cells are not responding to insulin correctly
so they do not take in as much blood sugar as they should and this eventually leads to high blood
sugar the point is is that if you have metabolic syndrome you are insulin resistant and you might
be thinking oh great now i have another problem to deal with but the news that metabolic syndrome is
insulin resistance should be empowering because it actually explains what the issue is and even
better news insulin resistance is reversible so now let's get into the five steps you can
take to reverse metabolic syndrome number one stop snacking every time we eat the food is broken down
by the body and blood sugar rises and this rise in blood sugar triggers insulin to be released
now high insulin for prolonged period of time is what leads to the resistance in the first place
so the lower we can keep insulin throughout the day the more sensitive our cells will
become to it again if we are eating and snacking all day long insulin is always high
now there are some healthcare professionals out there who will tell you that eating small
frequent meals throughout the day is the best approach to insulin resistance and unfortunately
this is completely backwards eating two to three meals throughout the day and not snacking
will mean that your insulin will have a chance to come back down to baseline
in between meals number two eat carbs last eating carbohydrate-rich foods at the end of your meal
after your protein and non-starchy vegetables makes the insulin response a lot less dramatic and
again the goal is to keep insulin low to improve insulin sensitivity and reverse metabolic syndrome
one study that was done on type 2 diabetics had participants eat the same meal three days in a row
on the first day they ate the carbohydrate portion of the meal first and then 10 minutes later the
protein and vegetable portion on the second day they ate the protein and vegetables first
waited 10 minutes and then ate the carbs and on the final day they ate everything together
insulin levels were tested before eating and after eating every 30 minutes for the following
three hours the study found that insulin levels were significantly lower after the meal when the
carbohydrate portion was eaten last and again keeping insulin low is the goal here so this is
a good thing number three reduce carbs now if you want to take this one step further and see faster
results reducing carbs entirely is the way to do this because carbohydrates are the macronutrient
that raises insulin the most much more so than fat or protein so if you can limit your total
carbohydrates for the day to 100 grams or even 50 grams you are going to be significantly reducing
your insulin load number four get proper sleep sleep is so important for our metabolic health
and it's not just about how much sleep you get but also about the quality and the timing it has been
well established that night shift workers are at an increased risk of developing metabolic syndrome
it is so important to be in sync with our circadian rhythm we want to be awake during
the day and to sleep at night another thing to note is that even one night of poor sleep
can make someone who is normally insulin sensitive temporarily insulin resistant the following day
a poor night's sleep also messes with our hunger hormones including ghrelin and leptin making you
hungrier than you otherwise would be now my best tip for getting your circadian rhythm in sync
and this won't come as a surprise if you watched any of my other videos is to wear blue light
blocking glasses two to three hours before bed these glasses block blue light and blue light is
a problem at night because it suppresses melatonin melatonin regulates our sleep-wake cycle and is
released a few hours before bed making us sleepy however blue light suppresses its release making
it difficult to fall asleep and we are surrounded by blue light it is emitted off our laptops our
cell phones our house lights and unfortunately the blue light filters on our devices
do not block enough of the blue light to make a difference wearing a pair of blue light blocking
glasses like these ones from blue blocks can help to sink your circadian rhythm improve your sleep
and reverse metabolic syndrome you can check them out by going to healthcoachkait.com forward slash
blue blocks and if you do decide to grab a pair make sure to use code hck 15 to save 15 off your
order number five build muscle now i really do think the diet is the most important factor
when it comes to reversing metabolic syndrome but exercise can help as well but when i say exercise
i do not mean spending an hour a day running on the treadmill or doing one of those fitness
classes at the gym that is only focused on keeping your heart rate high i'll get to what types of
exercise are best in a minute but first let's talk about why it helps because it isn't just about
burning calories first off exercise is beneficial for metabolic syndrome and insulin resistance
because when you are exercising your muscle cells are able to absorb glucose without insulin
and second off if you have more muscle mass this means your body can store more glucose now in
terms of the type of exercise you should be doing resistance training has been shown to be more
effective minute per minute than cardio and this is also how you're going to build muscle the most
effective type of resistance training is up for debate but training with either weights or body
weight can both be effective when done correctly and here's the best part you do not need to spend
hours or even one hour in the gym every day in order to get these results even 10 to 15 minutes
of basic body weight movements so squats push-ups planks can yield some amazing results when it
comes to insulin sensitivity a 2019 study looked at the effect short duration resistance training
had on insulin sensitivity in overweight men they did three resistance training sessions a week for
six weeks with each session only lasting 15 to 20 minutes during the workout they did one singular
repetition of nine different exercises at eighty percent of their one rep max after six weeks
participants saw an increase in their insulin sensitivity these men did nine different exercises
for one single rep and got results anyways guys that's all i have for you today let me know in the
comment section down below if you have metabolic syndrome and if you knew that it was the same
thing as insulin resistance if you do like this video make sure to give it a thumbs up you can
share it with a friend who you think would find it helpful and subscribe if you're not subscribed
already thank you so much for watching and if you did enjoy this video you might also enjoy my video
on the best low insulin foods that you can eat you can find it right here if you want to catch up on
my most recent upload you can find it here and if you want to check out my keto diet and carnivore
diet coaching programs you can find those here thanks again guys i'll see you next time bye