Metabolic syndrome is a condition of suffering from high levels of blood pressure, LDL cholesterol and blood sugar. It is a medical term that describes the risk factors associated with being overweight and obesity. These risk factors may increase the risk of heart disease and other conditions such as stroke and diabetes. It is diagnosed by a doctor through physical examination and blood test. You got metabolic syndrome if you have at least three out of five metabolic risk factors namely:

* A large waistline or abdominal obesity.

* Higher than normal blood pressure.

* Higher than normal triglyceride of LDL cholesterol

* Lower than normal HDL cholesterol

* Higher than normal blood sugar level.

Having more of these risk factors also increase your chance of suffering from heart disease, stroke and diabetes. Some of the risk factors mentioned above have no signs or symptoms at an early stage though having a large waistline is visible and high levels of blood pressure and blood sugar may occur intermittently. The underlying causes of Metabolic Syndrome are:

* Obesity or being overweight. Resulting from a high fat, carbohydrate & sugar diet and lack of physical activity.

* Genetics (ethnicity and family history) and old age. If it runs in the family, chances are, you'll get it sooner or later.

* Smoking and drinking alcoholic beverages. Nicotine contributes to the build-up of plaque inside our arteries along with triglyceride, a form of fat that cannot be dissolved in the blood stream. Drinking alcoholic beverages such as beer also contributes to the risk. Beer is food!

Another accompanying condition is hyperuricaemia or high levels of uric acid in the blood. High levels of uric acid could be a complication of metabolic syndrome due to contradicting diet preferences and/or diet prescription, although medical journals doesn't include hyperuricaemia in the list of metabolic risk fatcors. People with metabloic syndrome are advised to control their diet with reduced fat and carbohydrate intake and more on fish and vegetables and regular excercise. However, eating more of anchovies, gravy, herring, mackerel, sardines, scallops, sweetbreads (organ meats) and wild game, asparagus, cauliflower, dried peas/beans, mushrooms, oatmeal, spinach and wheat bran can raise the purine levels in your blood that causes hyperuricaemia.

Based from my own experience, the most common and obvious physical symptoms and discomforts of metabolic syndrome aside from a large waistline are irritability, blurred vision, inability to concentrate, hypersomnia during daytime and insomnia during nightime, pain in the palm of the feet, lower and middle backpain, numbness of the palm and fingers, laziness, unusual feeling of tiredness, vertigo and stiffenning of the neck after eating beef, pork or salty foods.

Medical treatment includes prescription of statins to reduce LDL cholesterol level, alluporinol to reduce uric acid levels, eprosartan to reduce blood pressure and rosiglitazone maleate/ metformin HCL to reduce blood sugar level. Other prescribed activities are reduction of smoking, reduced intake of red meat, fatty foods, sugar and salt, and regular exercise. I use to feel the discomforts listed above though I am on medication whenever I eat more rice, beef, pork, drink softdrinks, eat cakes, ice cream and chocolate. My back aches and also the palm of my feet, I find it difficult to sleep early and wake-up early in the morning and had difficulty focusing on what I am doing. It has taken a toll on my punctuality and attendance on the job.

What did I do to reduce the discomforts? I tried to cut back on foods high on fat, carbohydrates, salt and sugar by having only salad, fruits, bread and hotdogs or sausages for dinner; bread, eggs and fruit juices and coffee with less sugar during breakfast; and a little heavier meal during lunch that consists of vegetables, pasta, turkey, fish and chicken. It was remarkable that the usual discomfort was greatly reduced though I haven't started my excercise program yet. My blood pressure and sugar levels returned to normal after 1 month of dieting and medication, however, metabolic syndrome is a lifelong condition that needs to be controlled which means that the risk factors may recur anytime if a healthy lifesyle is not maintained.

Conclusion: The best way to prevent metabolic syndrome is to reduce weight through dieting and maintaining a physically active lifesyle. However, if all of your efforts fail, it is probably due to lack of sufficient knowledge and discipline not to be able to stick to your weight reduction program. There are products that offers guidance on how to achieve your goal of beating obesity. Just click on the link below to check  the hottest weight loss products available as an e-guide.