Americans are fighting for their health, but it is not just the virus that poses a threat. According to Jonny Bowden, Ph.D., metabolic syndrome — the cluster of medical conditions such as obesity, high blood pressure, insulin resistance, and elevated triglyceride levels — is causing widespread disease and adding to the increased risk of COVID-19 complications.
“We are metabolically broken,” says the co-author of the recently released, revised edition of the best-seller, “The Great Cholesterol Myth,” he wrote with cardiologist Dr. Stephen T. Sinatra.
According to the Mayo Clinic, if you have just one of the conditions mentioned, it puts you at increased risk of serious disease. But if you have more than one, your risk rises even higher. It is estimated that one-third of Americans have metabolic syndrome and are at risk of developing diabetes and heart disease.
While overtly, most of the disorders of metabolic syndrome do not have obvious symptoms, one clear signal is a large waist circumference. Other possible symptoms include fatigue, increased thirst and urination, and blurred vision, which could mean that your blood sugar levels are elevated.
According to Dr. Gabe Mirkin, author of “The Healthy Heart Miracle,” a large Korean study confirmed that people with metabolic syndrome are at increased risk for heart attacks, but when they correct some or all of the components of the condition, their risk plummets dramatically.
According to the Mayo Clinic, the primary causes of metabolic syndrome are being overweight and inactive, but Bowden says another potential cause is believing the myth that low-fat diets are healthy. He said the rise in metabolic syndrome tracks perfectly with our nation’s obsession with the low-fat, high-carb diet we have been told to eat for decades.
“The unfair demonization of healthy dietary fats caused us to embark upon the most unprecedented nutritional experiment in history,” he tells Newsmax. “Our low-cholesterol, low-fat diet coupled with our sedentary lifestyle has created an epidemic of underlying health conditions.”
Bowden says that metabolic syndrome, and especially obesity, have made us more vulnerable to complications from COVID-19.
Recent studies have shown that carrying excess weight increases the severity of the disease and causes a 50% increased risk of dying from COVID-19. The rate of obesity has been skyrocketing in America, prompting healthcare experts to refer to its juxtaposition with the coronavirus as an “epidemic within an epidemic.”
According to Forbes, statistically, obesity is most common risk factor for severe disease with over 30% of the population affected. Obesity causes several health issues that predispose people to COVID-19 complications.
Bowden says that the old low-fat guidelines were not based on science, and now many experts say that fat does not cause heart disease. He personally recommends consuming Malaysian palm oil, a partially saturated fat, and eggs as part of a healthy diet.
“We’ve been led in the wrong direction by so many experts,” says Bowden. “Change your diet to start managing your blood sugar. Take steps to manage your blood pressure and find ways to move. Our country’s current health situation is a perfect occasion to start making daily changes and sticking to them.”