The risk of metabolic syndrome increases as you increase in age. It
is suggested that we effectively treat the underlying cause of the individual
risk factors.
Therapeutic lifestyle changes (TLC) have to be made in emphasizing reduction in
saturated fat, trans fat, and cholesterol, encouraging weight management and
physical activity, adding plant stanols/sterols, increased fiber intake and
referral to a dietician.
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Dr. Usha Sriram, AB (Internal medicine) AB (Endocrinology) TAG, is a
Senior Consultant Endocrinologist at VHS Hospital in Chennai.
We are pleased to have Dr. Usha Sriram at the ISPEN 2019 to speak on
Metabolic syndrome. Here are a
few excerpts on the interview with Medindia.
Q. Could you please explain Metabolic Syndrome to our readers?
A. Metabolic syndrome is a collection of conditions like high blood pressure, high
triglycerides, low HDL cholesterol and some form of abnormal glucose, which can be either frank diabetes or pre-diabetes, and increased
fat, especially the visceral body fat. All this put
together is metabolic syndrome.
Q. The incidence of Metabolic Syndrome has gone up – what are the
reasons?
A. It is just our changing lifestyles -
we are now more sedentary, eating more processed food, and eating more food.
The availability of food to be ordered over the phone
has made people to eat more. So, there is just more food
available and less activity, a combination of the two and more stress.
Q. What tips would you like to
give to a layman for preventing Metabolic Syndrome?
A. It is eating healthy, being active,
sleeping well, spending more time with family and friends, spending less time on phones and gadgets. When it
comes to eating, we need to stay healthy by consuming
our traditional foods, keeping portion control
in mind, and reducing the consumption of junk food Clearly, it has been shown that increasing fruits, vegetables, nuts
and seeds in the diet decreases the risk of all these conditions.
Q. You are a well-known Endocrinologist,
and the incidence of diabetes has gone up in India – please tell us how we can control this epidemic?
A. I wish I knew the answer. But, it is something that we have to start
with pregnant woman because a healthy girl becomes a healthy woman. A
healthy woman becomes a healthy mother. Healthy mother has a healthy baby and the healthy baby has to become a
healthy girl. So,
that’s the life-cycle of this whole thing. So, the nutrition has to start from a schoolgirl,
then she becomes a high school girl, then college girl. Good healthy eating
with attention to proper nutrition, a lot of playing outside is so important.
Source: Medindia
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