What diet should patients with metabolic syndrome follow
Calorie-restricted diet: If the body takes in less energy than it expends, it uses fat reserves to compensate for the energy deficit. A negative energy balance is important for losing weight. For this reason, patients with metabolic syndrome should follow a calorie-restricted diet. Nutrition experts recommend consuming 5 servings of fresh fruit and vegetables a day. With these foods, you provide your body with vitamins, trace elements, and fiber. The Mediterranean diet can be given as an example of a healthy, balanced diet.
Low-fat diet: If you have metabolic syndrome, you should avoid meat and sausage products, fatty cheese, butter, and cream as much as possible. Ready-made products, fatty pastries, cream cakes, and chocolate also contain a great deal of fat. These fats — particularly palm oil and coconut oil — are saturated fats and are not healthy. In general, you need to prepare your food without fat (steam cooking). Sea fish can lower blood triglyceride levels, as they contain high amounts of polyunsaturated fatty acids, particularly omega-3 fatty acids.
Trans fats form as a result of hardening industrial oils. Since they are thought to be a cause of rising LDL levels in the blood, it's recommended to avoid foods containing trans fats. These include fried foods (especially french fries), chips, biscuits, cakes, and chocolate, as well as foods containing margarine. Milk and dairy products also contain a certain amount of trans fat.
Low-cholesterol diet: Patients with high LDL cholesterol levels should not consume more than 300 milligrams of cholesterol a day. Above all, animal fats contain a great deal of cholesterol and saturated fatty acids.
Examples of the cholesterol content of various foods:
- 1 egg yolk: 315 milligrams
- 100 grams of liver: 354 milligrams
- 100 grams of shrimp: 144 milligrams
- 100 grams of poultry: 60-90 milligrams
- 150 grams of cod: 70 milligrams
- 1 tablespoon (10 g) of butter: 25 milligrams
- 1 slice (30 grams) of semi-hard cheese: 21 milligrams
In particular, saturated fatty acids cause an increase in LDL cholesterol levels, while unsaturated fatty acids can lower cholesterol levels. Since vegetable oils contain unsaturated fatty acids (palm oil and coconut oil are exceptions), they contain lower amounts of cholesterol than animal fats and are healthier. However, you should also use vegetable oils sparingly, because fats have a very high energy content — meaning that when consumed in the same amount, they provide the body with far more energy than other energy sources (carbohydrates, proteins).
Functional or Designer Food
The term designer food, or functional food, is used to describe foods that serve to provide nutrients while also having health-promoting effects. These foods range from isolated nutrients, dietary supplements, and unmodified plant products to technologically processed foods. Designer foods can be used both to prevent and to treat diseases.
Fiber, polyunsaturated fatty acids, proteins, minerals, trace elements, vitamins, and antioxidants such as selenium, zinc, and vitamins C and E are among the substances used. These nutrients have a positive effect on regulating blood sugar, cholesterol, and triglyceride levels. It is also said that these nutrients inhibit platelet aggregation, reduce cancer risk, strengthen the immune system, and provide protection against inflammatory processes. Probiotic foods containing health-supporting microorganisms, such as lactic acid bacteria, also support intestinal digestion.
Fundamentally, many benefits can be obtained from the use of functional foods and food supplements. However, these foods cannot replace exercise, a balanced diet, and a healthy lifestyle.
You can find more information on this and similar topics in my book "The Anti-Inflammatory Nutrition Guide."
Hüseyin Nazlıkul