88% of Americans Adults in Poor Metabolic Health

Only 1 in 8 Americans are metabolically healthy

88 percent of Americans adults are in poor metabolic health, according to survey by Cleveland Clinic and Parade Magazine. American adults suffer from high blood pressure, cholesterol and triglyceride. And, a metabolically unhealthy lifestyle puts you at elevated risk of COVID-19 related complications.

Metabolic syndrome is the name for a group of risk factors that raises your risk for heart disease and other health problems, such as diabetes and stroke, according to the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI). The term “metabolic” refers to the biochemical processes involved in the body’s normal functioning. Risk factors are traits, conditions, or habits that increase your chance of developing a disease.

These conditions include increased blood pressure, high blood sugar, excess body fat around the waist, and abnormal cholesterol or triglyceride levels. Metabolic syndrome is closely linked to overweight or obesity and inactivity. Insulin resistance also may increase your risk for metabolic syndrome. Insulin resistance is a condition in which the body can’t use its insulin properly. Insulin is a hormone that helps move blood sugar into cells where it’s used for energy, according to NHLBI.

Metabolic Risk Factors

The five conditions described below are metabolic risk factors. You can have any one of these risk factors by itself, but they tend to occur together.

A large waistline (e.g., abdominal obesity). Excess fat in the stomach area is a greater risk factor for heart disease than excess fat in other parts of the body, such as on the hips.
A high triglyceride level (or you’re on medicine to treat high triglycerides). Triglycerides are a type of fat found in the blood.
A low HDL cholesterol level (or you’re on medicine to treat low HDL cholesterol). HDL sometimes is called “good” cholesterol. This is because it helps remove cholesterol from your arteries. A low HDL cholesterol level raises your risk for heart disease.
High blood pressure (or you’re on medicine to treat high blood pressure). Blood pressure is the force of blood pushing against the walls of your arteries as your heart pumps blood. If this pressure rises and stays high over time, it can damage your heart and lead to plaque buildup.
High fasting blood sugar (or you’re on medicine to treat high blood sugar). Mildly high blood sugar may be an early sign of diabetes.

A person has metabolic syndrome when they have too high or too low levels of three of the five factors, meaning that someone who has high blood pressure, high blood sugar, and high triglycerides would be considered unhealthy, metabolically speaking. The three risk factors combined put a person at much greater risk for diseases like type 2 diabetes, stroke, and heart disease, according to the Mayo Clinic

In order to have perfect metabolic health, according to a study published in the journal Metabolic Syndrome and Related Disorders, you need:

a waist circumference below 40 inches for men and below 34.6 inches for women,
blood sugar below 100 mg/dL,
blood pressure below 120/80,
triglycerides below 150 mg/dL, and
high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (also known as “good” cholesterol) greater than or equal to 40 mg/dL for men and 50 mg/dL for women.

According to this study, only about 12% ( or one in every eight) of adults based on these guidelines in the U.S. have perfect levels of all five risk factors without having to take medication, researchers at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill’s Gillings School of Global Public Health found in their study. The scientists examined National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey data from 8,721 people in the U.S. between 2009 and 2016. And they’re calling their findings “alarmingly low.”

“Based on the data, few Americans are achieving metabolic health, which is quite alarming and should spur renewed attention to population-based interventions,” Joana Araujo, PhD, a postdoctoral research associate in nutrition, said.

Even small steps add up.

Doctors generally agree on when it comes to a person’s health that blood pressure, cholesterol, triglycerides (a type of fat found in blood), blood sugar, and waist circumference are all often used to measure what’s called “metabolic health.”

Now is a great time to focus on eating unprocessed food and eliminating process food from your diet, exercising, getting adequate sleep, managing stress and anxiety, and maintaining social connections.

Mark Hyman, M.D., head of strategy and innovation for Cleveland Clinic’s Center for Functional medicine, “Poor metabolic health can be reversed in a couple of weeks, simply by dietary change.”

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