Syndrome X: The Complete Nutritional Program to Prevent and Reverse Insulin Resistance (Health / Alternative Medicine) - Hardcover

Challem, Jack

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0471358355 ISBN 13: 9780471358350

Publisher: Trade Paper Press, 2000

Synopsis

You can feel great again!

"Syndrome X proactively lays out a nutritious, tasty, and simple diet plan to get us back to the basics of healthy nutrition."-Lendon H. Smith, M.D., New York Times bestselling author of Feed Your Body Right

"Syndrome X is the best new book to help you understand the facts about nutrition, health, and aging. . . . It is full of new information and insights most readers have never had access to before. Everyone who values his or her health will want to read the book and then individualize the program to suit his or her needs-the authors have made this easier than ever to do."-Richard A. Kunin, M.D., author of Mega-Nutrition

What is Syndrome X? It's a resistance to insulin-the hormone needed to burn food for energy-combined with high cholesterol or triglycerides, high blood pressure, or too much body fat. Syndrome X ages you prematurely and significantly increases your risk of heart disease, hypertension, obesity, eye disease, nervous system disorders, diabetes, Alzheimer's, cancer, and other age-related diseases.

Syndrome X is the first book to tell you how to fight the epidemic disorder that is derailing the health of nearly a third of North Americans. It outlines a complete three-step program-including easy-to-follow diets, light physical activity, and readily available vitamins and nutritional supplements-that will safeguard you against developing Syndrome X or reverse it if you already have it.

About this title

About the Author

JACK Challem, known as the Nutrition Reporter(TM), is a leading health journalist with more than 25 years of experience reporting on nutrition research. In addition to his scientific articles, he is a contributing editor for Let's Live and Natural Health magazines and the coauthor of The Natural Health Guide to Beating the Supergerms.
Burt Berkson, M.D., Ph.D., practices nutritional medicine as President of the Integrative Medical Centers of New Mexico. He has conducted research and served as a professor at several institutions, including Rutgers University, and is one of the world's leading experts on alpha lipoic acid, an important antioxidant. His other books include The Alpha Lipoic Acid Breakthrough.
Melissa Diane Smith is a nutrition counselor specializing in customized diet plans and consumer education. The author of All About Zinc and the coauthor of All About Vitamin E and Why Am I Always So Tired?, Smith writes about nutrition topics for a variety of health magazines, including Great Life and Delicious!.

From the Back Cover

"Syndrome X proactively lays out a nutritious, tasty, and simple diet plan to get us back to the basics of healthy nutrition."-Lendon H. Smith, M.D., New York Times bestselling author of Feed Your Body Right

"Syndrome X is a well-written, easy-to-follow guide that provides life-saving information for the whole family. This book offers a smart and easy solution to the problem of insulin resistance. It also provides terrific information on how to lose weight without losing your mind in the process. The recipes are great?you'll want to keep a copy in your kitchen."-Carol Colman, New York Times bestselling coauthor of Shed 10 Years in 10 Weeks and Stop Depression Now

"Syndrome X could very well be the next public health crisis, and the information in this book can keep you from becoming another statistic. The nutritional and supplement advice in Syndrome X should help you stay healthy and lean."-Fred Pescatore, M.D., author of Feed Your Kids Well and Thin For Good

"Syndrome X clearly shows the importance of antioxidant supplementation in keeping you healthy and preventing disease."-Lester Packer, Ph.D., author of The Antioxidant Miracle; director of the Packer Lab, The University of California at Berkeley

"Syndrome X is the best new book to help you understand the facts about nutrition, health, and aging. . . . It is full of new information and insights most readers have never had access to before. Everyone who values his or her health will want to read the book and then individualize the program to suit his or her needs the authors have made this easier than ever to do."-Richard A. Kunin, M.D., author of Mega-Nutrition

"A much-needed guide for the millions who have Syndome X and don't know it until they suffer serious health consequences. I am recommending it to my many patients who have this problem."-Priscilla Slagle, M.D., author of The Way Up from Down

"Superb. . . . The concepts in Syndrome X need to be understood by every person seeking or giving advice about symptoms like fatigue, lack of vigor, and mental fuzziness."-Hugh D. Riordan, M.D., President, the Center for the Improvement of Human Functioning

From the Inside Flap

You can feel great again!

For years, medical researchers have been trying and failing to explain the widespread prevalence of heart disease, hypertension, diabetes, cancer, and other health problems among adults of all ages. Then, just a few years ago, a handful of enterprising scientists began to connect the dots between these seemingly disparate medical problems. A frightening pattern emerged: Syndrome X. Now, in the first book to tell you how to fight the epidemic disorder that is derailing the health of nearly a third of North Americans, find out what Syndrome X is and what you can do to protect yourself against it.

What is Syndrome X? The hallmark of Syndrome X is a resistance to insulin, the hormone that enables your body to use the energy stored in the food you eat. If you have insulin resistance together with high cholesterol, high triglycerides, high blood pressure, or too much body fat, you have Syndrome X.

How does Syndrome X affect you? It ages you prematurely, making you look and feel older than you should. It significantly increases your risk of heart disease, hypertension, obesity, eye disease, nervous system disorders, diabetes, Alzheimer's, cancer, and other age-related diseases. It saps your energy, dulls your mental focus, and darkens your outlook on life, leaving you depressed or subject to mood swings.

What causes Syndrome X? Eating too many processed high-carbohydrate foods such as breads, pastas, and sweets creates an excess of glucose and cell-destroying free radicals in your system, leads to insulin overload, and deprives your body of the nutrients it needs to thrive.

How can you tell if you have Syndrome X? Signs can be as simple as a spare tire around your waist, fatigue, mental fuzziness, and elevated blood pressure or cholesterol. To get a more complete picture, read this book.

It arms you with a self-test and other valuable tools for determining whether you have or are in danger of developing Syndrome X.

What can you do to fight Syndrome X? The first big step in conquering Syndrome X is reading this book. It outlines a complete, three-step program--including easy-to-follow diets, light physical activity, and readily available vitamins and nutritional supplements--guaranteed to safeguard you against developing Syndrome X or to reverse it if you already have it.

Reviews

Health columnist Challem (Natural Health, Lifestyle, and Modern Maturity magazines) and physician Berkson (President of the Integrative Medical Centers of New Mexico) define Syndrome X as two or more of the following occurring together: insulin resistance and glucose intolerance; high cholesterol; obesity; high triglycerides; and/or high blood pressureand warn that this is ``a disorder most people seriously risk developing by the time they reach middle age.'' In practical terms, they warn, the syndrome leaves sufferers feeling tired and fuzzy-minded, causes premature aging, and sets the stage for more serious diseases to develop. The authors therefore lay out a program involving diet, light physical activity, and nutritional supplements. After explaining the basic physiology of the disorder (insulin resistance is the starting block), they explain how we might get in trouble (poor diet, sedentary lifestyle) and how we might get out. While their diet is higher in protein and lower in carbohydrates than usually recommended by experts for general good health, the differences are not drastic. The authors do fall easily into diet-book hyperbole: ``You are about to be engulfed in one of the largest disease epidemics ever to strike North America. Recipes, advice on ordering in restaurants, and information on supplements and on customizing the diet for more complicated situations (if one also has cancer, for instance) complete their guide. The reasonable first of what will no doubt be many self-treatment guides on the constellation of symptoms that have coalesced into this newly-christened disorder. -- Copyright ©2000, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.

Syndrome X is a metabolic disorder that interferes with the body's ability to use insulin to move glucose into cells. It causes insulin resistance or diabetes, hyperlipidemia, and hypertension and results in obesity and heart disease. Stanford University researcher Reaven and his coauthors clearly explain what the syndrome is; its impact on the body, especially the heart and circulatory system, is well described. Reaven describes his reasonable six-step program of diagnosis, diet, weight loss, physical activity, healthy lifestyle habits, and medical intervention for control of the disease. An excellent book on a disease that is becoming more common in the American population. Challem, a columnist for Natural Health, and coauthors Burt Berkson, M.D., and health journalist Melissa Diane Smith, call Syndrome X a nutritional disease, caused by a diet high in refined carbohydrates, that can be treated through nutrition and exercise. They falsely imply that most people over age 35 are physically and mentally sluggish owing to this syndrome and warn against using drugs for hypertension, cholesterol, and diabetes. Their recommended diet program is high in protein, with moderate carbohydrate intake. Supplements such as chromium, zinc, and alpha lipoic acid are recommended. Unfortunately, the authors' scare tactics are unnecessary, and the medical information is faulty. Not recommended; get Reaven's book instead.
-Janet M. Schneider, James A. Haley Veterans Hosp., Tampa, FL
Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Edition details

• Publisher: Trade Paper Press
• Publication date: 2000
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0471358355
• ISBN 13: 9780471358350
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 272