One of the hallmark signs of the metabolic syndrome is central weight gain. I become very concerned when I note that a patient’s waist size has expanded. I become concerned when a woman has a waist size greater than 32 to 33 inches or a man has a waist greater than 36 inches. I measure the waist an inch below the belly button and across the top of the hips. The reason I become concerned is because this is an early sign that my patients are beginning to develop insulin resistance. This central weight gain is associated with all the other problems regarding the metabolic syndrome. When a woman’s waist size is over 34 ½ inches or a man’s waist size is over 40 inches, the metabolic syndrome may already exist.
Once patients have developed the metabolic syndrome, their arteries begin aging a third faster than they should. This is why physicians are now beginning to refer to this unusual weight gain around their middle as “Killer Fat.” This weight gain is associated with all these risk factors for developing cardiovascular disease. Another important recent finding is that this central obesity, by itself, creates a tremendous amount of increased inflammation in our arteries.
Source: Dr. Strand Health Nuggets (newsletter@Bionutrition.org)
