Feasting at the Metabolic Syndrome Buffet

03/11/08 Disease Basics

Otherwise-healthy adults who eat two or more servings of meat a day—the equivalent of two hamburger patties—increase their risk of developing metabolic syndrome by 25 percent compared with those who eat meat twice a week, according to research published in Circulation: Journal of the American Heart Association.

Metabolic syndrome is a cluster of cardiovascular disease and diabetes risk factors including elevated waist circumference, high blood pressure, elevated triglycerides, low levels of high-density lipoprotein (HDL or “good”) cholesterol and high fasting glucose levels. The presence of three or more of the factors increases a person’s risk of developing cardiovascular disease along with diabetes.

But it’s not just meat that adds inches to the waist, increases blood pressure and lowers HDL — “it’s fried foods as well,” said Lyn M. Steffen, Ph.D., M.P.H., R.D., co-author of the study and an associate professor of epidemiology at the University of Minnesota. “Fried foods are typically synonymous with commonly eaten fast foods, so I think it is safe to say that these findings support a link between fast-food consumption and an increase in metabolic risk factors," he said.

Dairy products, by contrast, appeared to offer some protection against metabolic syndrome.

Unlike other researchers who have investigated relationships between nutrients and cardiovascular risk, “we specifically studied food intake. When making recommendations about dietary intake it is easier to do so using the framework of real foods eaten by real people,” Steffen said.

Researchers assessed food intake using a 66-item food frequency questionnaire. From those responses, they categorized people by their dietary preferences into a Western-pattern diet or a prudent-pattern diet.

In general, the Western-pattern diet was heavy on refined grains, processed meat, fried foods, red meat, eggs and soda, and light on fish, fruit, vegetables, and whole grain products.

Prudent diet eating patterns, by contrast, favored cruciferous vegetables (e.g., cabbage, radish, and broccoli), carotenoid vegetables (e.g., carrots, pumpkins, red pepper, cabbage, broccoli, and spinach), fruit, fish and seafood, poultry, and whole grains, along with low-fat dairy.

Researchers also assessed associations with individual food items: fried foods, sweetened beverages (regular soda and fruit drinks), diet soda, nuts and coffee.

After nine years of follow-up, nearly 40 percent of the participants had three or more of the risk factors for metabolic syndrome.

Participants were 45 to 64 years old—ages at which many people gain weight. Steffen said that weight gain over the years of follow-up might explain some of the cases of metabolic syndrome. But “after adjusting for demographic factors, smoking, physical activity and energy intake, consumption of a ‘Western’ dietary pattern was adversely associated with metabolic syndrome,” she said.

When Steffen and colleagues analyzed the results by specific foods, they found that people who ate more meat, fried foods and diet soda were at an increased risk of metabolic syndrome, but consumption of dairy products was beneficial.

Steffen said the study’s results are clear: Too much meat, fried foods, and diet soda do not add up to a healthy life.

American Heart Association dietary guidelines for healthy Americans age 2 and older include:

• Limit saturated fat, trans fat, cholesterol and sodium in the diet.
• Minimize the intake of food and beverages with added sugars.
• Eat a diet rich in vegetables, fruits and whole-grain foods.
• Select fat-free and low-fat dairy.
• Eat fish at least twice per week.
• Emphasize physical activity and weight control.
• Avoid use of and exposure to tobacco products.
• Achieve and maintain healthy cholesterol, blood pressure and blood glucose levels.

Source:

The American Heart Association, January 2008

Circulation, February 2008

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