One way to think about metabolic disease is as a disorder in fuel processing. Whether we’re talking about hyperinsulinemia or type 2 diabetes, the fundamental problem is that the body is not doing a good job storing and accessing fuel.
I think of the three most deadly chronic diseases — heart disease, cancer, and dementia — as pillars all resting on the foundation of metabolic disease. While complications from metabolic disease often do not directly lead to death, the indirect cost is staggering. Each of the other major pillars of chronic disease is exacerbated and amplified by metabolic dysregulation.
Metabolic disease typically exists on a continuum — progressing from hyperinsulinemia, to insulin resistance, to non-alcoholic fatty liver disease, all the way to type 2 diabetes — and tends to cluster with five signs which make up the diagnostic criteria for Metabolic Syndrome, including: high blood pressure, elevated triglycerides, elevated blood glucose, truncal obesity, and low HDL-cholesterol.
The following is a collection of content that dives deeper into the topic of metabolic health, discussing specific strategies for prevention and treatment.