Metabolic Rescue: Breaking the Epidemic of the Metabolic Syndrome Cycle

There’s a good chance you’ve heard about “Metabolic Syndrome” in recent months.

There’s also a good chance you just let the phrase go by without thinking much about it. After all, it’s not very serious sounding. How bad can it be?

Well, it’s certainly not good. You are you at risk, and so are your loved ones … regardless of how old or young they are.

You are at risk right now if you …

• Can notice a slight thickening around your midsection that seems impossible to get rid of … no matter how hard you try
• Are sluggish and tired a lot more than you used to be … or than you should be
• Crave carbs like spaghetti and white bread … almost like an addiction
• Get hungry half an hour after a big meal … no matter how much you ate
• Can’t seem to move from the front of the TV … instead of doing things you used to love like walking, or swimming, or playing tennis
• Feel older than you should … but don’t have the energy to do anything to make it better

I’m going to tell you briefly about a friend of mine we’ll call Tim—a friend and business associate—who almost died last year right around Christmas time because of Metabolic Syndrome.

And although Tim is a man, his story is similar to those of women who’ve been overwhelmed by Metabolic Syndrome. I’m telling you because I want you to understand how seriously Metabolic Syndrome threatens your health, and to alert you to the fact that metabolic rescue is available.

My hope is that you can learn from Tim’s experiences. With proper attention—and some remarkable herbs and minerals—you can beat Metabolic Syndrome. And if you start before Metabolic Syndrome gets a firm hold in your body, you can stop it from …

Well, putting it bluntly, you can stop it from killing you … or someone you care about.

Are you too busy to stay healthy?

Through most of Tim’s younger life he was an active man. But times change. So do responsibilities. Tim found he had less time to exercise as he took on a new career. Or so he told himself.

Gradually … very, very gradually … he noticed some changes taking place in his body. Small changes you, too, may have noticed. His waistline thickened slightly. He gained some weight. Not a lot at first. Certainly not enough to call him fat. It’s all part of middle age, he told himself.

“Gradually, very, very gradually, he noticed
some changes taking place in his body.
Small changes you, too, may have noticed.”

He dieted and dropped most of the weight. But it came back. More this time than before. His belly was no longer just thicker. It stuck out.

Exercise became difficult because—he told himself—he didn’t have the time to do it right. And when he did exercise, he’d get winded and tired easily. He dieted. Tried everything. But the weight wouldn’t go away.

Tim was frustrated, angry, depressed, discouraged and felt like a failure when it came to his health

Then the very slow progression overtook him and grabbed him like a big, angry bear. Finally, two days after Christmas last year, he got medical attention.

“This is heart failure,” the doctor said. Further examination uncovered Type 2 diabetes, high blood pressure, and high triglycerides.

Tim was diagnosed with what is now called Metabolic Syndrome and what he very much needed was metabolic rescue.

The number one symptom of Metabolic Syndrome … DENIAL

Tim’s case is very typical of most people with this devious, insidious medical condition. It sneaks up on you and can take years to show its face. When it does start impacting your life, it’s easier to push the threat to the back of your mind than deal with it.

But all the while you have a nagging worry … and a sense of failure, just like Tim did. “There must be something wrong with me that I can’t lose weight,” you say to yourself. “I must be weak. No will power.” And you know that’s how others think about you.

But if you take nothing else away from my discussion here, please, please understand this …

Metabolic Syndrome is not your fault

You’ll see in a moment why you are not to blame if you get Metabolic Syndrome. I’m also going to tell you what some of the world’s most prestigious medical and nutritional researchers feel cause it. And how—armed with knowledge—you can experience metabolic rescue and reverse Metabolic Syndrome’s deadly impact on your life.

“… armed with knowledge, you can experience metabolic rescue and reverse Metabolic Syndrome’s deadly impact on your life.”

But first, let me tell you exactly what Metabolic Syndrome is … and what it is not.

Metabolic Syndrome is not a disease. It’s a “syndrome”—a combination of symptoms. That distinction makes it more difficult to attack and control. But metabolic rescue can be achieved.

In the case of Metabolic Syndrome, any one of the symptoms separately carries deadly potential. That’s why an alternative name for Metabolic Syndrome is the Deadly Quartet.¹ Other names include Syndrome X, and insulin-resistance syndrome.²

“In the case of Metabolic Syndrome, any one of the symptoms separately carries deadly potential. That’s why an alternative name for Metabolic Syndrome is the Deadly Quartet. ³”

And it’s not just your life you need to worry about

Although the term Metabolic Syndrome is most commonly used in the cardiovascular field, Deadly Quartet really describes this syndrome’s impact on your life and the lives of over 47 million Americans⁴… and their loved ones. There is no denying Metabolic Syndrome affects everybody in the victim’s family.

Why is it called a Deadly Quartet? Because medical researchers all agree that Metabolic Syndrome involves very serious, usually fatal (in the long run) conditions. These are:

• High blood pressure
• Elevated blood glucose and insulin resistance
• Low HDL (good cholesterol) and high LDL (bad cholesterol)
• Increased waist circumference

How could increased waist circumference be a deadly factor in your life? I’ll show you shortly some research that focused on how adipose (fatty) tissue produced life-threatening substances. It turns out that being “just a little overweight” has far greater impact on your life than simply putting a “strain on your heart.”

Other conditions are often grouped in with this deadly quartet. One of the most important ones is a pro-inflammatory state, characterized by elevated levels of C-reactive protein (CRP). The other is a pro-thrombotic state, characterized by elevated levels of substances in blood that lead to artery blockage and strokes.⁵

In fact if you have Metabolic Syndrome, medical research has determined that you’re at three times the risk of acquiring heart disease or getting a stroke. And your risk of dying from heart disease if you suffer from Metabolic Syndrome is 5½ times greater than people with heart disease who do not have Metabolic Syndrome.⁶

“… your risk of dying from heart disease if you suffer from Metabolic Syndrome is 5½ times greater than people with heart disease that do not have Metabolic Syndrome. ⁷ ”

Metabolic Syndrome’s danger does not stop there. A 14-year study of Finnish men determined that “Cardiovascular disease and all-cause mortality are increased in men with the Metabolic Syndrome, even in the absence of baseline CVD (cardiovascular disease) and diabetes.”⁸

Healthy now? Then there’s nothing to worry about. Right?

Wrong … Dead wrong!

Simply stated, this means that if you didn’t have heart disease or diabetes before you got Metabolic Syndrome, you’re still far more likely to die of all causes … including cancer.

A Swedish study followed over 33,000 women for 13 years. It found that women with higher than normal blood sugar levels have a significantly higher risk for cancer than women with lower blood glucose levels.⁹

And don’t assume that men are more likely to get Metabolic Syndrome than women. A 16-year Finnish study of over 8,800 men and women proves otherwise.

According to that study, “The age-adjusted prevalence was similar for men and women.”

However, the incidence of Metabolic Syndrome among African American women and Mexican American women is considerably higher than for their male counterparts. And so is the risk of dying from it.¹⁰

Here is the reality about Metabolic Syndrome: This nasty condition will eventually kill you. And the particularly nasty aspect is how slowly it sneaks up on you … and how it can grab hold of you even when you don’t seem like the “classic victim” in need of metabolic rescue.

Metabolic Syndrome is NOT your fault … It is NOT a breakdown of your self-control …

Metabolic Syndrome is a breakdown of your metabolism!

Metabolic Syndrome’s sole cause is impossible to track down. That’s because—and here all the researchers agree—it has no clear singular cause.

Scott M. Grundy, MD, PhD—director of the Center for Human Nutrition and Chairman of the Department of Clinical Nutrition at UT Southwestern—stated in a paper he co-authored in 2005 that …

Although the metabolic syndrome is often referred to as a discrete entity, it is important to recognize … it is a syndrome and not a defined uniform entity. No single pathogenesis (cause) has been elucidated, nor may one exist. Thus, the syndrome could range from a cluster of unrelated risk factors to a constellation of risk factors linked through a common underlying mechanism.¹¹

But researchers do have great leads on factors that lead to Metabolic Syndrome. Any one of these potential causes—or a combination of several of them—can open the crack in your body’s defenses, letting Metabolic Syndrome gain a foothold.

But before I tell you about these deadly factors, I want to get something off my chest. When you read the medical literature, it’s easy to feel that if you get Metabolic Syndrome, you have done something wrong.

This is as far from the truth as you can get. Metabolic Syndrome starts slowly, unnoticed. Once it gets a hold of your metabolism, however, Metabolic Syndrome picks up speed and severity … like an avalanche roaring downhill. An avalanche that’s almost impossible to avoid in today’s modern world.

“Once it gets a hold of your metabolism, however, Metabolic Syndrome picks up speed and severity … like an avalanche roaring downhill.”

I’m convinced Metabolic Syndrome gets its toehold because you’re normal but living in a nutritionally abnormal world.

For this reason, I’m going to eliminate two words from this discussion: obesity and fatty tissue. Both these expressions are front-loaded with guilt … guilt that only prevents you from doing something about Metabolic Syndrome.

The medical literature talks about “abdominal obesity.” I’m going to call it “abdominal thickening.” Instead of “obesity,” we’ll say “uncontrollable weight gain.” Instead of “fatty tissue” we’ll call it by its scientific name, “adipose tissue.”

Now, before I get to the secrets behind metabolic rescue, let’s look at the two biggest causes of Metabolic Syndrome’s attack on your life.

Insulin Resistance: NOT an advertising gimmick … A real, deadly metabolic malfunction

I’m sure you’ve heard the term “insulin resistance” many times by now. It’s been used in many commercials to sell diet books, videos, specialty (expensive) diet foods, and a whole lot of other garbage. But insulin resistance is very real. Here’s how it can happen in your body …
Your cells need energy to carry on the many vital, complex functions they have. They get energy in the form of glucose, a simple sugar your body gets from the food you eat. But for this glucose to be used, it has to get inside your cells.

Insulin—a natural hormone produced in your pancreas—bonds to receptors on the outside of cells. There it acts like a key to let glucose enter. When the doorway no longer recognizes the insulin key, glucose stays in the blood rather than entering the cells.

The pancreas responds by releasing large amounts of insulin to lower the glucose levels. Your pancreas can compensate for this flood of glucose for a number of years by secreting more and more insulin. But after awhile, your cells become overwhelmed by all the insulin, and they start to respond to the insulin much more sluggishly.

The amount of glucose in your blood gets higher. The pancreas keeps receiving signals that glucose levels are high, so it ratchets up insulin production. The more insulin that’s released, the less effective it becomes, and the more resistant to insulin your body’s cells become.

This is insulin resistance!

Too much insulin = uncontrollable weight gain

Making the situation worse, insulin also promotes the formations of adipose tissue. The more insulin your pancreas secretes, the more likely you will gain weight!

An even more insidious reason for this is that the fat cells do NOT develop insulin resistance to the degree other cell types do. The result is that, in insulin resistance, your muscles and organs are being starved while your chubby fat cells are being fed … and fed quite well!
Adipose tissue also produces unsafe levels of cellular substances that have a wide range of dangerous metabolic effects … including those leading to Metabolic Syndrome.¹²

All adipose tissue produces these potentially dangerous substances. But the adipose tissue that develops around your belly turns out to be a particularly good site for their production.

That’s why increased waist circumference—originally seen as a symptom of Metabolic Syndrome—is really one of the causes.

Middle age spread is more than an inconvenience … It can be fatal

Many people start to experience thickening around the waist as they hit middle age. It seems inevitable, a normal though unwelcome part of aging.

Well, it turns out that this middle-age, midsection thickening is a significant contributor to Metabolic Syndrome. And you don’t have to have a major bulge in your belly to lay the groundwork for Metabolic Syndrome. Even a small amount of undetectable adipose is all that’s needed to start the downhill cascade.¹³

What happens is this: Visceral adipose tissue (fat cells around your midsection) produces hormones and other bioactive substances loosely referred to as adipocytokines. These factors decrease insulin sensitivity in insulin-targeted organs like muscle and liver.¹⁴ One overall effect is to increase insulin resistance … resulting in Metabolic Syndrome.

Adipose tissue is also responsible for increased secretion of a substance called PAI-1, which plays an important—and deadly—role in forming arterial plaque and artery-blocking blood clots.

In addition, adipose tissue inhibits the secretion of a newly discovered protein called adiponectin.¹⁵ Adiponectin positively influences your body’s response to insulin and regulates the metabolism of lipids.
Adiponectin also has anti-inflammatory effects on the cells lining the walls of blood vessels.

High blood levels of adiponectin are associated with a reduced risk of heart attack. Low levels of adiponectin are found in people with waist thickening and who are at increased risk of a heart attack.

Eventually, no matter how hard you try, if you don’t get at the core of the problem, you find it almost impossible to lose weight. Metabolic Syndrome takes firm hold in your body. Blood pressure rises. Blood glucose levels shoot up. LDL (bad) cholesterol levels shoot up and HDL cholesterol levels drop precipitously.

You’re on a self-perpetuating cycle that leads to early death.

How did we get here? And how can we break the deadly cycle?

A little bit ago I said that if you are predisposed to Metabolic Syndrome or if you already have it, you are not to blame. I’m very serious about this.

Once this condition gets a tiny toehold in your body—a toehold when you’re in your twenties or younger—it can lie almost dormant for years.

Unfortunately, our modern lifestyle supports that toehold, feeding Metabolic Syndrome while it remains undetected. We no longer have time to eat properly or to take proper care of our bodies.

We take our meals on the run. A cup of coffee, fruit juice, and a bagel and cream cheese for breakfast. A Caesar salad for lunch. A microwave spaghetti meal for dinner. And you’re always hungry with a craving for more food, especially something sweet and gooey. Everything washed down with a diet soda.

You think you’re eating as healthy as you can. But it doesn’t work out that way. This fast “healthy” diet is loaded with simple, highly processed carbs … which put undue stress on your insulin system.

“High fructose corn syrup should simply be labeled “poison.”

If you could look at the salad dressing label, you’d see one of the first ingredients is high fructose corn syrup. This staple of American food manufacturing is cheap to produce and easy to use. It’s in every type of manufactured food from bread to pasta sauces to bacon to beer as well as in “health products” like protein bars and “natural” sodas.

High fructose corn syrup should simply be labeled “poison.”

When researchers want to induce diabetes in rats, they feed them high fructose diets.¹⁶ It is a shortcut route to Metabolic Syndrome and actually promotes disease more than glucose.¹⁷

Your diet soda is making you fat … and giving you Metabolic Syndrome

Artificial sweeteners in your soda? Researchers are proving what health advocates have long suspected.

Recent experiments conducted by nutritional scientists Drs. Susan Swithers and Terry Davidson at Purdue University showed conclusively that laboratory rats eating food sweetened with artificial sweeteners gained more weight than rats fed with normal sugar.

“laboratory rats eating food sweetened with artificial sweeteners gained more weight than rats fed with normal sugar.”

These experiments support survey results of humans indicating that people who drank large amounts of diet soda or diet fruit juice gained weight. It turns out if you use more than a small amount of artificial sweetener in your daily diet, you’re making yourself hungry, and you’ll eat more, and your blood sugar goes up.

You get—or exascerbate—Metabolic Syndrome and you are a prime candidate for metabolic rescue.

Stress: A hidden villain in promoting Metabolic Syndrome

You’ve heard it many times: Stress is a killer. But few people realize how deeply into our lives this killer reaches. And one of the most insidious ways is by promoting the development of Metabolic Syndrome.[ref18}

My friend Tim’s doctor told him that stress—in this case stress from helping to organize and run a fundraising triathlon—was probably what pushed him over the edge into full-blown Metabolic Syndrome.

Here’s how it works.

Stress increases the secretion of the stress hormone, cortisol. At critical times, cortisol helps your body deal with stressful situations—helping to produce the classic “fight or flight” response. Back in the “cave days,” stress meant real, physical dangers. And cortisol saved lives.

The human brain responds to danger by signaling the adrenal glands to produce cortisol. This hormone breaks down glycogen in the skeletal muscles, turning it into glucose the muscles can use for immediate energy. It also increases freely circulating glucose for use by other organs and tissues.

This can be great if a saber-tooth tiger is chasing you.

But this is not good if your stress comes from bills, traffic, work, and other typical stressors of modern life. The reality of our life now-a-days is that we are all exposed to varying levels of stress with little relief.

So cortisol is constantly circulating in your blood. It stimulates your liver to produce glucose at an elevated rate. It inhibits the conversion of glucose into glycogen in your skeletal muscle. It increases lipid and fat accumulation.

And it seems to inhibit the effect of insulin that is produced.¹⁹ (See Figure 1: Stress and Metabolic Syndrome—How modern life is killing us)

This constant level of cortisol wreaks havoc on your body—increasing your risk of acquiring Metabolic Syndrome.

The 3-prong approach to breaking the Metabolic Syndrome cycle and moving toward metabolic rescue

This can seem a pretty bleak picture. Your lifestyle—one that is virtually thrust on you by modern living—predisposes you to Metabolic Syndrome.

Your genetics can make you even more susceptible. If one of your parents had Metabolic Syndrome, there’s a good chance you will. Both parents? An even better likelihood.

To make matters worse, Metabolic Syndrome may already have gotten a start in your body… even if you don’t have any of the symptoms or feel any of the effects.

But the picture is not bleak at all. There are rational, safe ways to break the Metabolic Syndrome cycle and achieve metabolic rescue. It involves a focused supplementation program, a sensible approach to what you eat, and a moderate commitment to increasing your daily activity level.

Since Metabolic Syndrome saps your energy and makes you hungry even when you’ve already eaten, it makes sense to start our discussion with the most important aspect of metabolic rescue … supplementation.

The first step to breaking the chains of Metabolic Syndrome … get your blood sugar under control

While there is no single cause to Metabolic Syndrome, one contributing factor stands out: insulin resistance. And the key to controlling insulin resistance is to control blood sugar levels.

This is why if you’re diagnosed with Type 2 diabetes, a physician will put you on insulin injections and/or other medications that lower blood sugar levels. However, these medications are not without serious side effects.

For instance, if your injectable insulin isn’t properly balanced, you can experience hypoglycemia or dangerously low blood sugar. Hypoglycemia can lead to fainting at unfortunate moments like when you are driving a car.

A rain forest vine stimulates effective insulin production … reduces weight … and balances lipids

One of the most exciting natural alternatives to these prescription drugs is the extract of a vine from the rain forests of central and southern India called Gymnema sylvestre.

Gymnema has been used safely and effectively in Indian Ayurvedic medicine for over 2,000 years for the treatment of “sweet urine,” or diabetes.

Studies have shown that Gymnema …

• Reduces the amount of sugar absorbed from food in the intestines
• Stimulates insulin production and release
• Appears to build pancreatic beta cells, producing insulin efficiency
• Supports weight loss

In two separate studies reported in the Journal of Ethnopharmacology in 1990, Gymnema sylvestre was given to 49 patients with Type 2 diabetes to supplement their anti-diabetic medication.

Most patients showed a distinct reduction of blood sugar levels by several measures. In addition, 5 of the 22 patients in one study were able to discontinue their conventional drugs altogether.²⁰

A rat study reported in 2007 confirmed the weight reducing power of Gymnema. It also reported this supplement regulated and balanced lipid metabolism—a crucial consideration leading to metabolic rescue and management of Metabolic Syndrome.

The researchers stated: “Supplementation with [Gymnema] promoted weight loss by its ability to reduce hyperlipidemia, which was no withdrawal rebound: an important discovery.”²¹

“Supplementation with [Gymnema] promoted weight loss by its ability to reduce hyperlipidemia.²²”

Two thousand years of use as a weight control/blood sugar balancing treatment is a testament to both Gymnema’s effectiveness and safety. Numerous modern clinical studies with both humans²³ and rats²⁴ confirm both safety and efficacy.

Since you’ll be using Gymnema over a period of time, you should avoid “over dosing” yourself. While it a very safe supplement, too much at one time can lead to transient low blood sugar.

Adding a little spice helps conquer Metabolic Syndrome

Recent research into natural anti-Metabolic Syndrome supplements has identified one you probably have in your kitchen cabinet—cinnamon. Like Gymnema, cinnamon’s history as a control for diabetes goes back thousands of years.

Plain cinnamon has a direct and significant blood glucose lowering effect. In one double-blind study, a total of 79 patients with diagnosed Type 2 diabetes were randomly assigned to take either a cinnamon extract or a placebo capsule three times a day for four months.

The results were impressive. The study reports: “The mean absolute and percentage differences between the pre- and post-intervention fasting plasma glucose levels of the cinnamon and placebo groups were significantly different.”²⁵

“The mean absolute and percentage differences between the pre- and post-intervention fasting plasma glucose levels of the cinnamon and placebo groups were significantly different.²⁶”

Numerous other studies—including some funded by the US Department of Agriculture in Dr. Richard Anderson’s lab²⁷—confirm these results. They’ve also shown that cinnamon has the ability to control lipids.

As a food substance with thousands of years use, cinnamon is safe as a supplement … with one important exception.

Fortunately, these oils are not responsible for cinnamon’s impressive effects. Instead, cinnamon’s water-soluble components are the key components responsible for its beneficial metabolic effects.²⁸

Cinnamon extract not only supports healthy blood sugar levels, but also has excellent antioxidant properties.²⁹ In supplement form, it’s best taken with meals so that it can have an immediate effect on blood glucose.

A “metal” armors cinnamon in the anti- Metabolic Syndrome battle

The exact mode of action of cinnamon’s blood sugar lowering power hasn’t been determined yet. But Dr. Anderson and other researchers have identified several of the water-soluble components that are responsible for cinnamon’s anti-Metabolic Syndrome activity.

One of these components—and a very crucial one for your supplementation program—is the metal chromium.

Anderson’s research showed that people with Type 2 diabetes given supplemental chromium displayed improved glucose levels and insulin sensitivity, decreased visceral adipose tissue and body weight compared with the placebo group. ³⁰

“… cell culture, experimental animal, and human studies demonstrate that improved chromium nutrition leads to improvements in abnormalities associated with the Metabolic Syndrome.”

Anderson summarized his research on chromium as an effective anti-Metabolic Syndrome agent this way: “… cell culture, experimental animal, and human studies demonstrate that improved chromium nutrition leads to improvements in abnormalities associated with the Metabolic Syndrome.”

Chromium in its triple valence state (as picolinate or polynicotinate) is generally accepted as being safe.³¹ However, overuse of any mineral in a supplementation program is inadvisable. Dosages not exceeding 400mcg per day are both safe and effective for protection against Metabolic Syndrome.

Southeast Asian remedy reduces blood sugar by a whopping 20-30%!

Banaba leaf extract is a traditional remedy from Southeast Asia, India, Malaysia, Thailand, Nepal, and the Philippines.

Not to be confused with banana (to which it is not related), Banaba (Lagerstroemia speciosa L.) has been used for more than 1,500 years for treating edema, dropsy, ulcer, high blood sugar, and diabetes.

One key anti-Metabolic Syndrome component in Banaba is a substance called corosolic acid, which has a strong blood glucose lowering effect.

In one randomized clinical trial Type 2 diabetic individuals took a standardized corosolic acid supplement each day for two weeks. After that time, their blood glucose levels had decreased by 20-30%.³²

But Banaba doesn’t just fight Metabolic Syndrome by lowering blood glucose levels. It also fights it very effectively along a number of different metabolic pathways.

Banaba extract contains components called gallotannins. These substances have insulin-like glucose transport capabilities that facilitate glucose transport across cell membranes and into the cells where it is needed.³³ Circulating glucose is lowered, and insulin resistance is significantly diminished.
Tannins from Banaba also appear to inhibit the expression of key genes for adipose tissue (fat cell) production.³⁴ Banaba fights Metabolic Syndrome and induces metabolic rescue by reducing dangerous concentrations of adipose tissue especially around the belly … with the welcome “side effect” of helping users lose weight.

“ Banaba fights Metabolic Syndrome by reducing dangerous concentrations of adipose tissue … with the welcome “side effect” of helping users lose weight.”

In a study of rats with the rat equivalent of Metabolic Syndrome, corosolic acid derived from Banaba lowered blood pressure by 10% in eight weeks. It also reduced free fatty acids by 21% after only two weeks. In addition, the corosolic acid also decreased levels of several oxidative stress and inflammatory markers.³⁵

The 1,500-year history of Banaba’s safe and effective usage is a good indicator of its safety as a metabolic rescue supplement to combat Metabolic Syndrome.

Battling Metabolic Syndrome on two fronts: Blood sugar and stress

We saw a little bit ago how stress induces and maintains Metabolic Syndrome. So, if you can reduce the impact of stress in your life, you’ll find you’re on the path to metabolic rescue and should be able to reduce some of the severity of Metabolic Syndrome.

The root of a flowering herb that grows readily in the cold parts of the world does just that. Rhodiola, particularly Rhodiola rosea (R. rosea) has been used for centuries as an adaptogen—an herb that increases the body’s resistance to stress, trauma, anxiety and fatigue.

Russian, Asian, and western researchers have studied Rhodiola extensively since the 1940s, especially in its application as a non-stimulant based energizer and a non-narcotic stress reducer.³⁶

For instance, Researchers at the Department of Experimental Medicine and Public Health, University of Camerino, Italy studied the effects of Rhodiola on mice put into stressful circumstances. They concluded:

“This study thus provides evidence of the efficacy of R. rosea extracts after a single administration, and confirms many preclinical and clinical studies indicating the adaptogenic and stimulating effects of such R. rosea extracts.”

In other words, Rhodiola helped calm the mice physically and emotionally without the side effects prescription drugs bring with them.

But Rhodiola goes beyond protecting you from Metabolic Syndrome by moderating the damage caused by stress. Recent research has shown that it also has significant blood sugar lowering power.³⁷

One experiment offers a possible explanation for how Rhodiola moderates blood sugar. In vitro (“test tube”) experiments performed at the Laboratory of Food Technology, University of Massachusetts, showed that Rhodiola “enhanced functionality in terms of high alpha-glucosidase and alpha-amylase inhibitory activities.”³⁸

Inhibition of these two enzymes reduces the impact carbohydrates have on your blood sugar.

Because of this double-barrel effectiveness, Rhodiola is a powerful addition to any nutritional approach to combating Metabolic Syndrome. It is one that you should consider adding to your personal metabolic rescue program.

A delicious melon is also a powerful Metabolic Syndrome fighter

A common ingredient in Thai cooking is also a powerful combatant in your battle against Metabolic Syndrome. Like the other supplements we’ve discussed, bitter melon (Momordica charantia) fights Metabolic Syndrome along a number of different metabolic pathways.

Clinical studies demonstrated bitter melon’s power to lower blood glucose in newly diagnosed adult diabetics by as much as 20-30%… before any other pharmaceutical treatment has been started.³⁹

But its effectiveness as an anti-Metabolic Syndrome agent doesn’t stop there. One study showed that rats given bitter melon drew fewer calories from their high fat food, had less visceral adipose tissue, lower blood glucose, and significantly reduced insulin resistance than un-supplemented rats.⁴⁰

In another experiment reported by the same researchers, rats fed a high fat diet but given a bitter melon extract increased levels of adiponectin—the good protein hormone that plays a significant role in the prevention of Metabolic Syndrome.⁴¹

Bitter melon’s beneficial health effects appear to go beyond its ability to fight Metabolic Syndrome. According to the Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center: “In vitro [‘test tube’] and animal studies indicate antiviral activity against HIV and herpes, cytotoxic effects against leukemia cells, and cytostatic effects in breast cancer, but related human studies have not been conducted.”⁴²

As a widely eaten food in Asia, bitter melon can be regarded as safe. However, combining bitter melon with standard antidiabetic drugs may reduce blood sugar too well.⁴³ For this reason, if you already take drugs for diabetes, you should add bitter melon to your diet only with a physician’s supervision.

One other caveat: If you live near an Asian market, you may be able to get fresh bitter melon. While bitter melon is a delicious addition to cooking, eating too much of the fresh fruit can cause the same problem eating too much of any melon causes: diarrhea.

So my recommendation is to control your intake of bitter melon carefully by using either a stand alone bitter melon supplement or a metabolic rescue formula that includes bitter melon.

Ancient anti-diabetic treatment with modern science to support its efficacy

Coccinia indica—also known as ivy gourd—is a creeper that grows widely in India and Bangladesh. It has been used since ancient times as an antidiabetic agent by Ayurvedic healers.

Several recent studies support its use in your battle against Metabolic Syndrome. A 45-day study using diabetic rats showed Coccinia lowers both blood sugar and blood lipids. Coccinia also increased blood insulin levels, which may account for its blood sugar lowering power.⁴⁴

Research from the same team also found supplementation with Cocciniaextract had significant antioxidant activity in the liver and kidney of diabetic rats.⁴⁵

Additional clinical trials of human subjects have shown similarly encouraging results. In one study, Type 2 diabetics received Cocciniatablets or placebo and then were tested for glucose tolerance. The supplement significantly improved blood glucose tolerance with a high level of safety.⁴⁶

In a study at the Institute of Population Health and Clinical Research, Bangalore, India, 60 Type 2 diabetics were randomized to receive an alcoholic extract of Coccinia or a placebo for 90 days.

The supplemented patients showed a significant decrease in fasting and post-meal blood glucose. They also showed decreased glycosylated hemoglobin (A1C)—a measurement of the overall control of diabetes for the previous two to three months. The lower the A1C score, the better the control.⁴⁷

“… supplemented patients showed a significant decrease in fasting and post-meal blood glucose. They also showed decreased glycosylated hemoglobin (A1C)”

As with all Ayurvedic medicines, Coccinia’s safety has been proven through centuries of use and you should consider adding it to your metabolic rescue program.

The power of synergy to protect you from Metabolic Syndrome

Why have I called your attention to all these different natural supplements as a way to protect yourself from Metabolic Syndrome? When you look at them superficially, it might be easy to think they all pretty much are the same.

But that is far from the truth. Each of these substances fights Metabolic Syndrome and achieves metabolic rescue in slightly different ways. For example, Banaba lowers blood sugar by transporting glucose into your cells, lowering the glucose concentration in the blood.

Gymnema fights Metabolic Syndrome (in part) by reducing sugar absorption in the gut and by stimulating release of insulin stores from other tissues, reducing insulin resistance.

Some of these natural, safe herbs regulate lipids or reduce the amount of adipose tissue around your waist. Others increase production of the highly beneficial protein hormone adiponectin.

And research is beginning to determine that some of these substances work right at the DNA level, turning off genes that code for fat production while turning others on that produce beneficial substances.

By presenting you this array of natural Metabolic Syndrome fighters, I’m offering you the most powerful metabolic rescue options for protecting yourself if you do not yet have Metabolic Syndrome. And for getting your life back on track with you in control if you do have it.

So instead of going to war with an army of infantrymen, you have an army of sophisticated specialists, each with a particular strength to protect you. This is synergy … where the combined power of the individual components is so much stronger than each one taken separately.

Two other crucial metabolic rescue weapons in your fight against Metabolic Syndrome

I would love to be able to tell you that all you need to do to protect yourself from Metabolic Syndrome … or to start wrestling control of your life back from it … is to take the supplements I’ve discussed today.

If I did that, I’d be lying to you. Metabolic Syndrome is a complex beast. It arises for many reasons. For that reason, fighting it solely with supplementation (or pharmaceutical drugs) simply is not enough.

If you want to beat back the beast, you have to adopt two additional vital metabolic rescue strategies. Unfortunately, these strategies cause most people to moan and feel defeated before they even start. But the good news is that most people don’t really understand how easy both of these metabolic rescue strategies are.

I’m talking, of course, about food and activity. Notice I didn’t say “diet” and “exercise.” That’s because both of those words are frontloaded with failure. But if you want to defeat Metabolic Syndrome in your life, you’ll have to make some changes in the way you look at the food you eat and the amount of activity your life.

Changes, yes. But in fact, small ones.

Eating for success

If you’re addicted to today’s modern convenience diet (and addicted is a good way to put it), you’re virtually ensured you’ll get Metabolic Syndrome. If you have any doubt, just consider this: We now have children as young as 9 and 10 with full-blown Metabolic Syndrome in need of metabolic rescue. All because of our modern western diet.

Here’s how to break the grip of this addictive diet we currently eat.

1. Eat less more often
Eat every three hours. Set your watch by it. Of course, if you do this, you’ll want to eat less at each meal. By eating this way, without even trying you’ll reduce your total food intake throughout the day. And spreading out your food intake keeps your insulin from having to respond to sudden huge surges of carbohydrates.

2. Start every day with a scrumptious “breakfast” of … almonds
Unless you’re allergic to almonds, start your day soon after you get up by eating 10 dry-roasted or raw, unsalted almonds. They wake up your liver and kidneys and get them ready for the later influx of food they have to deal with.

3. Stay away from simple and highly processed carbohydrates
We all love spaghetti and mashed potatoes. But make those your special occasion meals. If you’re going to eat carbs, make them complex carbs like you get in regular (not instant) oatmeal.

4. Eat more protein … within reason
Replace the processed carbs you’re reducing with good protein. Cheese, almonds, tuna (in water, not oil) and the like are great for those meals you’re now eating every three hours.

5. Always sit down for your meals
Make your meals special. Make them about social interaction rather than just eating. Use smaller plates. Take smaller bites. Put your fork down between bites. Talk to your spouse or a friend during the meal. The longer you take to eat, the less food you’ll consume. And you’ll walk away satisfied.

And if you don’t have the time to do this—like at the office—take a few extra minutes, lay a napkin on the desk, set out your lunch, and take your time eating, even if it means working during the meal.

6. Swear off the “hard stuff”… sodas, diet sodas, and packaged fruit juices!
This will be hard because we’re all programmed to want sodas. But sodas just jack up your blood sugar without giving you any nutrition.

And as I mentioned earlier, diet sodas are as bad if not worse than regular sodas. It will take awhile to kick the soda habit. But once you do, you’ll discover a broad new world of flavors available to you.

But what about fruit juice? Aren’t they good for you? Look at almost any can or box of juice you pick up. Up near the top is the infamous high fructose corn syrup. It is far better to skip fruit juices and eat the fresh fruit instead.

What will you drink? Water. Tea. Coffee in moderation. A little red wine. Sparkling water.

7. Fast foods are the fast lane to Metabolic Syndrome
Make your own convenience food instead of stopping at the local burger joint. String cheese is tasty, filling, and comes in reduced fat variety if you want.

If you must choose one of the big name fast food restaurants, opt for one of their “healthier” options. And when they ask, “supersize that?” remember they’re not really supersizing the food or drink. They’re supersizing you.

Forget strenuous exercises. You just need to move!

Now, I’m not saying you shouldn’t exercise strenuously if that’s your thing. Keep it up! But it’s not for everyone and just because someone works out two hours everyday doesn’t mean they’re healthier than you.

The key, though, is to move. Regular movement gets your heart pumping faster. It uses glucose pumping through your blood vessels, ultimately reducing your blood sugar and your insulin resistance.

The easiest way to start moving is to walk. Twenty minutes a day, five days a week. Start with an easy walk on flat ground if you haven’t pushed yourself in awhile. Go with a friend or partner. Talk about things of mutual interest and the 20 minutes is over before you know it. Soon, you’re stretching it into 30 minutes … or more.

If walking doesn’t thrill you, find another activity that does. Dance. Swim. Yoga. Ping pong.

Where are you going to find the time to do this? Let’s say you’re going to walk 20 minutes. It takes you 10 minutes to get to and from the park (or wherever) and another 10 minutes for warm up and cool down. That’s 40 minutes.

Is there a 60-minute TV show you can give up to make room for personal movement time? I’m sure you can find one every evening. Eliminate or record that program and shift your schedule to accommodate your personal movement program.

References