Metabolic Syndrome. This is one of those keyword terms that my doctor gave me after checkup.
I’m going to try a different style of journaling with this one. A kind of meandering exploration of key terms and their meanings so I can get a grasp of this medical condition. I’m mostly transcribing my notes and mind maps written in various places. This will be a multi-part post exploring each subsection of this interesting but important topic.
Big disclaimer here: I’m not a medical expert. I’m just a regular person learning about her body and all the medical conditions that happen to it. I could be very well wrong about my interpretations from all the material I’ve been reading. But don’t worry, I’ve included links to them.
Let’s start with an over view of Metabolic syndrome.
Along with this new term, I was given a warning, “Metabolic syndrome is a cluster of conditions that occur together, increasing your risk of heart disease, stroke, and type 2 diabetes.” Great. Thanks Doc. More scary terms.
I refuse to panic. Lets break it down in to managable parts. These conditions include:
- Excess Viseral Fat or Abdominal obesity.
- High blood pressure.
- High blood sugar.
- High serum triglycerides.
- Low HDL cholesterol.
Having at least three of these conditions can lead to a diagnosis of metabolic syndrome.
Fantastic. Now what? Where do I even begin? I want to troubleshoot this by breaking it down item by item – post by post.
Part 1: Metabolic Syndrome and Visceral Fat
This is a condition where there is too much fat in the abdominal area. Um, no duh!
Further reading into medical sites says that it’s also known as visceral obesity. Visceral fat, also known as organ fat or intra-abdominal fat, is located inside the peritoneal cavity, packed in between internal organs and torso.
Not all fat is created equal. For example, subcutaneous fat (the fat under your skin) isn’t as bad as visceral fat, which behaves differently and has a much bigger impact on your health. Let’s break it into simple points:
visceral fat messes with your metabolism
Acording to the research papers I found, the fat around your organs is drained through a vein called the portal vein, which sends fat molecules straight to the liver. This overloads the liver and wrecks the following functions in your body:
- The balance of fat in your blood (triglycerides) – by making levels higher.
- The balance of cholesterol in your body both “good cholesterol” (HDL) and “bad cholesterol” (LDL) – by increasing the LDL and decreasing the HDL.
- Insulin sensitivty – by making your body less sensitive to it, which leads to higher blood sugar and even diabetes.
Even if someone has a lot of subcutaneous fat, they can still be healthy if they don’t have much visceral fat.
Visceral fat’s location makes it worse
Recall the portal vein? The “portal hypothesis” suggests that the liver is directly influenced by free fatty acids and cytokines—small proteins involved in immune regulation—that are progressively released from visceral fat into the portal vein. This influx overwhelms the liver and disrupts:
- How your liver processes fat and sugar by taking up all the liver’s functions
- How it produces and breaks down certain substances, like triglycerides and insulin.
In general, this chain reaction leads to high blood sugar, high triglycerides, and insulin resistance.
Small LDL and HDL particles are bad news
Wait! Cholesterol particles have a size? That’s new to me.
So according to what I’ve read, cholesterol does have a particle size. Good and bad versions of cholesterol travel through the bloodstream within tiny, protein-covered particles called lipoproteins – soluble proteins that combine with and transport fat or other lipids in the blood plasma.
Visceral fat causes changes in cholesterol particles:
- LDL (“bad cholesterol”) levels increase – visceral fat releases fatty acids into the bloodstream which can lead to increased liver production of small, dense LDL particles.
- HDL (“good cholesterol”) levels drop – excess fat cells in the abdominal area disrupt the normal metabolism of HDL particles, leading to their faster breakdown and reduced ability to remove cholesterol from the bloodstream – making it harder for your body to remove bad cholesterol.
This explains why people with visceral fat often have higher triglycerides and lower HDL levels, which puts them at greater risk for heart disease.
Why do some people store more fat in their belly?
Another article talks about reasons why some people store fat in their belly instead of under their skin:
- Hormones: For example, cortisol (the stress hormone) makes people store more fat in their belly. Women tend to store fat in their thighs/hips due to estrogen, while men often store fat in their belly.
- Energy storage problems: Some people’s subcutaneous fat can’t store extra energy from food, so it gets stored as visceral fat instead.
Genetics and brain signaling: For example, in conditions like Cushing’s syndrome, people have high cortisol levels, which leads to more belly fat and insulin resistance.
It’s a Vicious Cycle
Once visceral fat builds up, it creates a loop:
- More visceral fat → worse insulin resistance and metabolism → even more visceral fat.
This makes it harder to stop the health problems that come with it, like diabetes and heart disease.
Why does this matter?
I really think that I shouldn’t just look at weight or BMI when assessing my health. Even if a person’s total cholesterol looks normal, visceral fat can cause serious problems. That’s why its good to look at things like:
- Triglycerides
- HDL levels
- How small/dense cholesterol particles are
Summary:
- Belly fat (visceral fat) is way worse for your health than regular body fat.
- It makes your cholesterol worse, raises your blood sugar, and leads to insulin resistance.
- Some people are more likely to store fat in their belly because of hormones, genetics, or how their body handles energy.
- Losing belly fat can break the cycle and lower your risk for diabetes and heart problems.
Alright. So I’ve got extra fat around my organs. I guess my heart, lungs, liver, stomach and intestines are kinda being crushed by fat. Spot exercise like sit ups and crunches are not going to work on that kind of fat.
Good news, another article says that, “Visceral fat is actually easier to lose than subcutaneous fat.” And even lists some simple steps to start losing visceral fat, I’ll summarize here:
- Exercise everyday for 30 minutes. HIIT is good because resistance and aerobic training helps you burn fat faster
- Eat a healthy diet. Ketogenic diet is good because it trains your body to burn fat as fuel rather than carbs
- Intermittent fasting. Why? As your body depletes the glucose stores from the fast, it starts to burn stored fat for energy, including visceral fat.
- Good sleep hygiene. Why? The goal of getting good sleep is to reduce cortisol, a stress hormone that can lead to increased fat storage, particularly around your abdomen, making it harder to lose belly fat
- Reduce your stress. Again with the cortisol – the stress hormone which triggers the storage of more visceral fat. Reduce cortisol, reduce the fat. Yoga & Meditation are good.
- Don’t drink alcohol. When you drink booze your liver breaks down alcohol instead of fat, thus hindering any sort of progress of losing it.
That was one long trip down viseral fat lane, but I learned someting and now I’m starting to formulate a plan for myself. Tomorrow will be part 2 – The relationship between metabolic syndrome and high blood pressure.
Resources:
Després, Jean‐Pierre. “Is Visceral Obesity the Cause of the Metabolic Syndrome?” Taylor & Francis, Annals of Medicine, Vol. 38, 8 July 2009. Accessed on 23 Jan 2025.
“Subcutaneous and Visceral Adipose Tissue: Their Relation to the Metabolic Syndrome – PubMed.” PubMed. Accessed 23 Jan. 2025.
“Visceral Fat: What It Is & How to Get Rid of It.” Cleveland Clinic, 30 Aug. 2023. Accessed on 23 Jan 2025.
“Cholesterol Particle Size: What It Is and Why It Matters.” Health Central, 31 May 2024. Accessed on 23 Jan 2025.
