Loose that "Muffin top"
Chances are it’s Metabolic Syndrome – the condition which fills your liver up with fat, makes your blood sugar rise and plasters the inside of your arteries with hard lumps of cholesterol. Sounds bad, eh? Worst of all, it’s generally totally self-inflicted.
The human body is a marvelous instrument that regulates metabolism to maintain optimal physical function. Slight changes in blood chemistry are sensed by specialised cells in different organs and the body responds by secreting chemicals or hormones that restore normal balance. This process is called homeostasis.
Normally, a meal consists of carbohydrate, fat and protein. The carbohydrate load is essentially converted to sugar so the body produces a certain amount of insulin in response to the meal to keep the blood sugar carefully controlled. But that’s not all. The human body has the ability to convert excess food substance into fat stores to save for a rainy day. Excess sugar is therefore driven into the cells and can be converted into fat. Insulin plays a vital role in this process.
Relatively recently, the existence of a specific illness has been recognised in which the body develops high blood pressure, increased rate of hardening of the arteries, high levels of fat deposition in the liver and ultimately diabetes. It is sometimes referred to as the Metabolic Syndrome and is caused by the development of resistance to insulin.
As the cells develop some resistance to insulin the pancreas tries to compensate by secreting increasing doses of insulin. However, because of the resistance to insulin, this does not have the desired effect on the blood sugar.
Watch your waist!
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