If you think you’ve got good metabolic health just because you see a “normal” weight on the scale, think again.
New research shows that an “alarmingly low” number of American adults are achieving optimal metabolic health, leaving the majority of people at increased risk for serious diseases.
In a study published last month in the journal Metabolic Syndrome and Related Disorders, researchers from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill evaluated data from 8,721 adults from the 2009 to 2016 National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES). They found that just 1 in 8 adults in the United States have optimal metabolic health.
They defined metabolic health as having ideal levels of blood sugar, triglycerides, high-density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol, blood pressure, and waist circumference, without using medications. These factors directly relate to a person’s risk for heart disease, diabetes, and stroke. Read more…
