Читать книгу Low-Carb Diet For Dummies - Katherine B. Chauncey - Страница 47

Metabolic syndrome is a name coined for a modern disease characterized by obesity, glucose intolerance, high triglycerides, and high blood pressure. It has also been called Syndrome X, the Deadly Quartet, insulin resistance syndrome, and prediabetes. Insulin resistance is the condition that causes this cluster of symptoms where the body doesn’t respond very well to the insulin it produces. (Insulin is a hormone that moves glucose out of the blood and into the tissues where it can be used.)

If a person is insulin resistant, then they have to produce a greater amount of insulin in order to move the glucose into the tissue. High levels of insulin not only promote storage of fat but can cause serious harm to body organs. High levels of insulin cause high blood pressure, abnormal cholesterol levels, atherosclerosis (hardening of the arteries), and blood-clotting disorders. This can result in heart attacks and strokes. Eating high-carb foods — especially refined starchy and sugary foods — produces higher-than-normal amounts of insulin. The low-fat, high-carb diet universally recommended for high cholesterol is the worst diet for people who are insulin resistant.