Overeating, Not Fat, Causes Metabolic Syndrome
Reported April 21, 2008
(Ivanhoe Newswire) -- It was once thought that obesity itself was the
cause of metabolic syndrome. But now, new research indicates overeating, and not
the obesity it causes, may be the actual trigger for the dangerous condition.
How and where the body stores excess calories appears to matter most when
determining a person’s risk of developing metabolic syndrome -- a collection of
heath risks that increase a person’s chance of developing insulin resistance,
fatty liver, heart disease and type 2 diabetes.
A new study done by researchers at the University of Texas Southwestern, found
weight gain is merely an early symptom of pre-metabolic syndrome, rather than a
direct cause. Excess fat is usually stored in fat cells, causing a person to
gain weight. The study emphasizes it’s not the growing fat cells that increases
a person’s risk of metabolic syndrome; it’s the actual excess fat itself going
into those cells.
“It’s best to eat only what you need to replace the energy that you burn,” Roger
Unger, M.D., professor of internal medicine at UT Southwestern and senior author
of the study, was quoted as saying. “But, if you eat more than you need, as most
Americans do, it’s better to put the surplus calories in fat cells than in the
rest of the body because fat cells are designed specifically for fat storage.”
SOURCE: Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, published online
April 14, 2008 |
