A burger a day?

With a diet soda, please!
Courtesy ebruli
Researchers from the University of Minnesota School of Public Health have found that adults who eat two or more servings of meat a day increase their risk of developing metabolic syndrome by 25% compared with those who eat meat twice a week. The study, published in Circulation: Journal of the American Heart Association also linked a greater risk of developing metabolic syndrome with eating fried foods and drinking diet soda.

What is metabolic syndrome?

Metabolic syndrome is a group of cardiovascular disease and diabetes risk factors including:

• elevated waist circumference (a waist measurement larger than 35 inches for women or 40 inches for men);
• high blood pressure:
• elevated triglycerides (the chemical form in which most fat exists in food and in the body);
• low levels of high-density lipoprotein (HDL or “good”) cholesterol;
• and high fasting glucose (blood sugar) levels.

If a person has three or more of these risk factors, their risk of developing diabetes and cardiovascular disease increases.

The study

The U of M findings came from a study of 9,514 participants from four U.S. communities in the Atherosclerosis Risk in Communities (ARIC) study , funded by the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute. The researchers divided the group based on an assessment of their food intake. One group ate a "Western-pattern diet" with many refined grains, processed meat, fried foods, red meat, eggs and soda, and an overall lack of fish, fruit, vegetables and whole grain products. Another group ate a "prudent-pattern diet" with vegetables, fruit, fish and seafood, poultry and whole grains, and low fat dairy.

After following the the participants for nine years, almost 40% of study participants had three or more risk factors for metabolic syndrome. When researchers analyzed the results based on specific foods, meat, fried foods, and diet soda were red flags for an increased risk for metabolic syndrome. The good news? They found that regular consumption of low-fat dairy products was beneficial in avoiding the same risk factors.

The authors acknowledge that more research is needed to determine how these specific foods, particularly diet soda, raise risk factors.

The lesson? Follow a balanced diet, include low-fat dairy, exercise, and eat your vegetables!

Sources and additional information:
"Dietary Intake and the Development of the Metabolic Syndrome. The Atherosclerosis Risk in Communities Study." Pamela L. Lutsey, Lyn M. Steffen and June Stevens. Circulation; published online Jan 22, 2008.

University of Minnesota Academic Health Center

American Heart Association

Posted by Meredith Craven, a communications assistant in the Academic Health Center Office of Clinical Research at the University of Minnesota

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