Importance of a healthy lifestyle
Researchers suggest that you only need three of these risk factors to be at a heightened risk for metabolic syndrome—meaning you could develop heart disease, diabetes, or have a stroke.
In order to prevent metabolic syndrome and reduce your risk of serious health threats, it’s important that you live a healthy lifestyle. This can be done by maintaining a healthy weight and reducing the amount of fat centered around your mid-section, improving your diet, and above all, exercising regularly. It’s important that you aim for a body mass index (BMI) of 25 or lower and having a waist measure of less than 35 inches for women and below 40 inches for men.
If lifestyle changes aren’t enough to keep you healthy, then you will want to see your doctor in order to see what treatments are available to keep your health numbers in check. This may involves taking cholesterol or blood pressure medications, or any other type of medications to ensure that you prevent metabolic syndrome from occurring.
This is even more important if you’re a person who has a family history of diabetes or heart disease. You’re risk of developing these health problems is higher compared to someone without a family history. Know your risk, speak to family members, and see your doctor, along with taking the necessary healthy lifestyle tips in order to reduce your risk for metabolic syndrome.
Related: Eating avocados may decrease risk of metabolic syndrome