According to the ‘Health Management Status of Kosi-guk’ published by a domestic employment portal site, 6 out of 10 adult males and females said that they experienced weight gain.
Son Hyo-moon, head of the Gastroenterology Department of Incheon Himchan General Hospital, said, “If you reduce your activity level and eat high-salt, high-calorie foods frequently, your basal metabolic rate decreases and fat accumulates excessively. It increases the risk of progressive metabolic syndrome disease,” he said.
▶If there are more than 3 risk factors, intensive management is required
Metabolic syndrome is a condition in which various symptoms and diseases appear multiple times due to a problem in the metabolic process. Although there is no clear cause, if the muscles, organs, and cells of our body do not recognize insulin well due to increased insulin resistance, the body cannot use energy efficiently, causing abnormalities in the body in the process of producing more insulin. Insulin resistance is influenced by genetic and environmental factors. According to a study in Korea, if the parents had metabolic syndrome, their children were 8.7 times more likely to develop metabolic syndrome than normal parents. In addition, environmental factors such as irregular eating habits, smoking and drinking, lack of sleep, and stress have a very large impact. Therefore, the longer the lifestyle of enjoying homecooking and stimulating food delivery continues, the risk of metabolic syndrome may increase as much.
Metabolic syndrome is generally characterized by ▲ waist circumference of 90 cm for men and 85 cm for women, ▲ triglycerides 150 mg/dL or more, ▲ fasting blood sugar 100 mg/dL or more, ▲ systolic blood pressure 130, diastolic blood pressure 85 mmHg or more, ▲ HDL cholesterol 40 men mg/dL, less than 50 mg/dL for women, if 3 or more of these 5 criteria apply. Although individual symptoms do not appear in the early stages of metabolic syndrome, it should be recognized that if it progresses significantly, high blood pressure, hyperlipidemia, diabetes, etc. are more likely to occur, and cardiovascular complications are high.
▶ You should take medication, manage your diet, and exercise consistently for each symptom.
In order to treat metabolic syndrome, it is most important to maintain an appropriate body weight and reduce body fat, especially visceral fat. You need to reduce your calorie intake and increase your basal metabolic rate through diet and exercise. In particular, the GI index should be taken into account when formulating a diet. The GI index is a number expressing the rate at which blood sugar rises after ingesting food on a scale of 0-100. Foods with a high GI index quickly raise blood sugar, causing excessive secretion of insulin and accumulation of body fat. to ingest them. Foods with a low GI index include sweet potatoes, bananas, grapes, and apples, and brown rice has a lower GI index than rice. Eat fish with a higher content of unsaturated fatty acids than meat, and vegetables, mushrooms, and seaweed with a lot of dietary fiber are also helpful. Lifestyle changes are also very important. Smoking increases insulin resistance and constricts blood vessels, which increases the chances of developing arteriosclerosis and atherosclerosis. In addition, it is recommended to reduce stress by getting enough sleep for 7-8 hours a day, and to exercise at least 3 times a week for 150 minutes or more per week.
However, if insulin resistance does not improve through dietary and lifestyle changes, treatment and management of drugs for hypertension, diabetes, and dyslipidemia must be performed in parallel through a professional diagnosis. Hyo-Moon Son, head of the Center for Metabolic Syndrome, said, “When metabolic syndrome occurs, the risk of cardiovascular complications such as cerebral infarction and myocardial infarction is two to three times higher, and the risk of diabetes is five times higher than that of normal people. If there is one, it must be thoroughly managed by undergoing a metabolic syndrome test.” By Jang Jong-ho, reporter bellho@sportschosun.com
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