Metabolic syndrome is one in 4 lifestyle diseases that plague developed countries. These diseases include hypertension, diabetes, and lipid metabolism disorder. Together they pose a huge threat to the heart and are a serious cardiovascular condition risk.
Dietary treatment
It is therefore important to find ways of managing metabolic syndrome as efficiently and quickly as possible. Apart from drugs, the most recommended way of doing this is through a diet. Nutritionists give metabolic syndrome patients a diet that they should follow strictly.
This diet is aimed at helping the patient lose some weight, control their blood pressure, and normalize their carbohydrate and lipid metabolism. This diet is therefore made up of vegetables and less carbohydrates and fats. In the cases of hypertension and diabetes, drugs are also required. However, this is not all.
Fasting as part of the diet
According to a new study led by Professor Dominic Müller and Dr. Sofia Forslund, fasting as part of the diet improves considerably. The study, published on Nature Communications, aimed to see if fasting had any effect on dietary treatment of metabolic syndrome.
According to the research paper, changing to a healthy diet has visible positive effects on blood pressure. Fasting before and in between the diet also makes a bigger impact on blood pressure and body weight, and overall immunity.
In the study, two hypertensive volunteers totaling 71 were treated using DASH (Dietary Approach to Stop Hypertension) for 3 months. Participants in one of the 2 groups were not allowed to have any solid food for 5 days before the diet began. The participants in the other group started the diet immediately.
The study found that participants in the first group that fasted reported better results at the end of the exercise. Not only did their blood pressures stabilize more, but they also lost more weight and had overall better immunity.
The research recommends shifting from Western to the more healthy Mediterranean diet. For people with metabolic syndrome. Additionally, fasting before and during the diet will yield better results.
