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Dietary Strategies Implicated in the Prevention and Treatment of Metabolic Syndrome.
de la Iglesia, R, Loria-Kohen, V, Zulet, MA, Martinez, JA, Reglero, G, Ramirez de Molina, A
International journal of molecular sciences. 2016;17(11)
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Metabolic Syndrome (MetS) affects between 10-50% of adults worldwide and incidence continues to rise. MetS refers to a cluster of metabolic disturbances including central obesity, blood sugar imbalance, insulin resistance, high blood pressure and high cholesterol. Many dietary approaches have been studied to help improve MetS and this review evaluates how effective they are. It found that restricting calories helps promote weight loss and reduce inflammatory markers. Diets high in omega 3 fatty acids may play a moderate role in ameliorating inflammation. A low glycaemic approach helps support better blood sugar control and insulin response, by focusing on the quality of carbohydrate foods in the diet and favouring those lower in natural sugars which are absorbed more slowly. A high antioxidant diet helps reduce oxidative stress in MetS. A moderate to high protein diet helps improve satiety and support blood sugars, and cholesterol levels. Increasing protein intake works well as part of a restricted calorie diet. The Mediterranean diet, which is naturally rich in fibre, oil olive, fish, legumes, nuts and seeds is seen to support weight loss and reduce the risk of cardiovascular disease and Type II diabetes. There is no strong evidence to support increasing meal frequency to eat more, smaller meals throughout the day and spread calories. The review also looks at speciļ¬c nutritional bioactive compounds: vitamin C, resveratrol, quercetin and others, with the aim of helping further clinical studies to find easy to follow therapies for MetS.
Abstract
Metabolic syndrome (MetS) is established as the combination of central obesity and different metabolic disturbances, such as insulin resistance, hypertension and dyslipidemia. This cluster of factors affects approximately 10%-50% of adults worldwide and the prevalence has been increasing in epidemic proportions over the last years. Thus, dietary strategies to treat this heterogenic disease are under continuous study. In this sense, diets based on negative-energy-balance, the Mediterranean dietary pattern, n-3 fatty acids, total antioxidant capacity and meal frequency have been suggested as effective approaches to treat MetS. Furthermore, the type and percentage of carbohydrates, the glycemic index or glycemic load, and dietary fiber content are some of the most relevant aspects related to insulin resistance and impaired glucose tolerance, which are important co-morbidities of MetS. Finally, new studies focused on the molecular action of specific nutritional bioactive compounds with positive effects on the MetS are currently an objective of scientific research worldwide. The present review summarizes some of the most relevant dietary approaches and bioactive compounds employed in the treatment of the MetS to date.