Nearly one in four American adults is living with a potentially fatal disease known as metabolic syndrome. Are you one of them?

Metabolic syndrome is a cluster of five cardiovascular risk factors caused by insulin resistance. Each of these risk factors is considered dangerous, but when they occur together, the overall risk to your health can be significant. Lindora founder Marshall Stamper, M.D. refers to the condition as “the silent killer.” If left untreated, it leads to diabetes, chronic hypertension, stroke, heart disease and even death. Unfortunately, most people don’t even know they’re vulnerable until it either claims their health or their life.

People who have three or more of the following have metabolic syndrome:

1. A waist measurement greater than 40 inches for men and greater than
   35 inches for women
2. Fasting triglyceride level of 150mg/dl or greater
3. HDL cholesterol levels below 40mg/dl for men and below 50mg/dl for women
4. Blood pressure of 130/85 or higher
5. Fasting blood sugar of 110mg/dl or higher

Insulin resistance is caused by excess body fat, inadequate physical activity, consuming too many carbohydrate calories, too high a total caloric intake, and not enough essential fatty acids. In other words, too much food and too little exercise can be a dangerous or even deadly combination.

The good news is that through weight control and physical activity, the process of insulin resistance—and, therefore, metabolic syndrome—can be reversed in as little as two weeks.

According to a Harvard Medical School study, exercise is the best way to prevent metabolic syndrome, and it is also the mainstay of treatment once the condition has developed. Exercise treats metabolic syndrome by impacting all five diagnostic conditions listed above. Exercise promotes burning calories and contributes to weight loss. According to a 2003 study cited by Harvard Men’s Health Watch newsletter, exercise was found to have a specific ability to reduce abdominal obesity.

Additional Benefits of Exercise:

• It helps reduce triglyceride levels.
• It helps boost the levels of good HDL cholesterol.
• It’s one of the most important lifestyle treatments for hypertension and is also helpful for impacting pre-hypertension.
• It contributes to muscle and other body tissues being more sensitive to insulin, which means less insulin is needed to keep blood sugar down.
• It helps prevent type 2 diabetes by lowering blood sugar levels and lowering insulin levels.
• It helps to lower LDL (bad) cholesterol and it reduces c-reactive protein levels, which impacts inflammation in the arteries.

The American Heart Association recommends moderate physical activity such as walking 30 minutes a day, five days per week. By making moderate exercise a part of your daily routine, you can improve your health and longevity. Why not start by taking a walk today?