Metabolic Syndrome: Dr. Saunders Recovery Protocol

Frank is in his late fifties, and was a little overweight. Mostly, he carried his excess weight around his midline, making his waist much bigger than his hips. As a child he had a sweet tooth and ate a lot of candy. For most of his life he ate pre-sweetened cold cereal, mostly two or three times per day. He liked soft-drinks, downing as many as six in one day.

Frank came to the office with a classic case of metabolic syndrome.

His body isn’t able to burn fat.
He has low testosterone and high estrogen levels.
He is pre-diabetic.
He has hypertension and elevated triglycerides.
He can’t see his belt when it’s on.
He came to see me because he has had chest pain and difficulty breathing. Since he has young children, he got worried about a heart attack or stroke so he came looking for help.

Let’s follow Frank through the process of recovery from this problem.

In the 1980s, a new term was coined for an old problem. Those with a collection of symptoms and struggled with metabolism were put in a special group. They suffered from metabolic syndrome. The syndrome affects how people make energy because of high blood sugar, central obesity, hypertension (i.e, high blood pressure), and high triglycerides.

This syndrome is a specific collection of symptoms that occur together. Not everyone with diabetes has hypertension, for example. Nor do most people with hypertension also have the other symptoms like obesity. The definition of metabolic syndrome requires three of the following five symptoms:

Hypertension
High triglycerides
Low HDL cholesterol
Central obesity
High blood sugar[1]

It’s important to note that a syndrome is not a disease, but rather just a group of symptoms. It has had other names over time, including:

Dysmetabolic syndrome
Hypertriglyceridemic waist
Insulin resistance syndrome
Obesity syndrome
Syndrome X

What’s more, it is related to other problems including:

Fatty liver disease
Heart disease
Polycystic ovarian syndrome
Gallstones
Strokes
Sleep apnea
Inflammation
Excessive clotting

Table of Contents

How Does Metabolic Syndrome Happen?

One of the most amazing facts about our bodies is the ability to adapt. We have whole civilizations living on mostly fat and protein. Other civilizations have almost no protein, yet both groups of people adapt to their nutrition. There are, however, limits to adaptation. Some people cannot adapt to certain dietary habits that others tolerate. This is part of the difference in genetics.

Our genes don’t determine our destiny, but they do play an important role in determining how we respond to our environment.

Two people on the same diet, for example, may have very different results, depending on their genetics. Click to Tweet.

Today’s environmental factors interact with our genetic predisposition to store energy as body fat. The culprits of metabolic syndrome are:

Large portion sizes
Commercially prepared foods high in salt, simple sugars, and saturated fats.
And the multiple factors that promote sedentary lifestyles, including:
- The wide variety of home entertainment options
- Work-place automation
- And reliance on automobiles

In our case above, Frank had gained the weight in his abdomen over many years of eating processed foods. He didn’t have fat on his arms, legs, chest, or neck – only around the waist. He may have had a genetic weakness to release more insulin than usual. But, his over-the-belt belly could also be a result of eating sugar, starch, and processed foods over the years.

The key feature, or the root of the metabolic syndrome, is insulin.

Insulin:

Lowers the HDL
Raises the triglycerides
Raises the blood pressure
Causes fat to be deposited in the abdomen
Causes type 2 diabetes, with elevated blood sugar[2]

How Do We Treat Metabolic Syndrome?

Medical school teaches doctors to treat each part of the syndrome with a separate set of medications. I have had metabolic syndrome patients on two medications for cholesterol, three for hypertension, and two for diabetes – and they still weren’t healthy. So, they come to see me. Practicing medicine has taught me that most medications are not appropriate for this syndrome. They only mask the symptoms, as the underlying problem gets worse.

Now that we know that insulin is the root cause of all the symptoms, it’s crucial we treat it naturally. The cornerstones of metabolic syndrome treatment include these 3 steps.

1. Reduce Insulin to Reverse Metabolic Syndrome

The first step is to get the insulin down.

There are four ways to decrease insulin:

Avoid sugar and starch
Avoid anything that tastes sweet
Avoid protein
Exercise

Frank started with a cleanse. To cleanse is to clean out.

Insulin causes an overload of sugar in cells, preventing them from performing their normal functions. This is especially true of the liver.

The liver needs to constantly detoxify internal and external toxins the body. When liver cells are full of sugar, their function is inhibited. The cells die and the sugar is made into fat, creating fatty liver disease.

All good cleanse protocols have one thing in common: fasting. Click to Tweet.

The “Master Cleanse” uses only three ingredients in water: lemon juice, cayenne pepper and maple syrup. A juice cleanse uses only fresh-squeezed juice. However, I don’t recommend the Master Cleanse or a juice cleanse for people with metabolic syndrome. These 2 liquids contain a great deal of sugar, preventing the liver from cleaning it out. Instead, I prefer to use a broth cleanse with one green salad for lunch every day. It looks something like this:

Breakfast	Lunch	Dinner
Broth, between 1 pint and 1 quart	Broth, between 1 pint and 1 quart	Broth, between 1 pint and 1 quart
	Fresh green salad with only vinegar, oil and spices

Continue the broth cleanse for as long as necessary. A good rule-of-thumb is to subtract the ideal body weight from the current body weight and do it for that many days. I rarely have people go over 30 days, but some like it and continue until they reach their ideal weight.

Frank went on a broth cleanse for thirty days. He started with broth only for a week. After seven days, he added a green salad for lunch. After three weeks, he was able to see his belt. He lost a total of almost thirty pounds off of his abdomen in just four weeks.

2. Detox Your Liver and Kidneys to Reverse Metabolic Syndrome

Then he started on a detox. Detox is what we do to allow our liver and kidneys to remove toxins from the body. The goal of a detox is to facilitate the release of toxins from fat storage cells and to enhance the body’s detoxification pathways.

We often think of toxins as something we ingest, but the body makes most toxins, and we need to be cleaning house every minute of every day. Click to Tweet.

There are many substances that are not toxic in small amounts, but can become deadly if not regularly detoxified. For example, when liver failure occurs from infection, people die of toxicity because they are unable to get rid of their own waste products.

The detox is to get in the nutrients without all the calories. Calories cause free-radicals, waste, and damage to DNA. For example pizza is packed with calories, but has very little nutrition. It should not be included in your detox diet. A detox program incorporates the following dietary changes.

Foods to Avoid while Detoxing:

Processed foods/restaurant food
Pizza/hamburgers/burritos
Flavored drinks, including juice
Grains/cereals/breads/pasta
Milk products
Most fruit

Food to Incorporate into a Detox:

Green vegetables – organic, fresh, raw, or cooked
Yellow vegetables
Eggs
Meat in small amounts
Beans/peas/lentils in small amounts
Berries
Nuts and seeds

Continue the detox for thirty days. Foods should then be added gradually. Grains must be whole grains, and must not be eaten daily. Frank has completely given up his cold cereal, and eats an egg in the morning. Portion size is also important – there is no need to fill up at every meal. If the cleanse is done properly, then the stomach shrinks, and you will not be able to eat as much anyway.

Detox Supplements for Metabolic Syndrome

Supplements are also important to help the energy production, and help the liver to detox normally. We supplement because food may be lacking. The need for extra nutrition is common with metabolic syndrome. The nutrients go straight to the liver, which has already been cleaned-out, and is prepared to use them to do its job. Frank’s detox included multiple supplements.

These include:

Chromium/Vanadium – Are two minerals that are commonly low and needed to prevent insulin resistance. Dose: one per day.
Fish oil – Decreases inflammation and make us more sensitive to insulin. Dose: 3 grams per day
Vitamin D3 – This hormone is important for the proper use of sugar. Dose: 50,000 IU per week
N-Acetyl Cysteine (NAC) – This amino acid is needed for glutathione, the most powerful anti-oxidant in every cell. Dose: 1,000 mg per day
Alpha Lipoic Acid (ALA) – Helps re-generate glutathione. Dose: 300 mg per day
Selenium – Is commonly deficient but needed in multiple places including glutathione and thyroid. Dose: 200 mcg per day

3. Exercise to Reverse Metabolic Syndrome

Frank also started an exercise program several times per day using a fifty-foot staircase near his home. He started with walking, and built up to running. He also does strengthening exercises to build his upper body. Building muscle is an important part because it allows the metabolism, or energy production, to become normal. It increases the ability to use fat for energy, and slows down the storage of both sugar and fat. Most importantly, know this:

PEARL of Wisdom: Exercise controls the amount of muscle. Food controls the amount of fat. Click to tweet.

Many fitness experts tell us we need to exercise to lose fat. But exercise doesn’t control fat deposition, only food does that. Therefore, if we want more muscle, then we need exercise. If we want less fat, then we need less food.

How to Prevent Metabolic Syndrome

Exercise, muscle, food and fat pearl of wisdom

If anyone has a parent or sibling with this problem, then they are more likely to get it themselves. Metabolic syndrome is more prevalent in south Asians, Native Americans, including Mexicans, and pacific islanders. However, just because there is a genetic pre-disposition does not mean they are obligated to have this problem. It is easily controlled by lifestyle.

Eat high-nutrient/low-calorie foods such as those in the detox described above.
Do a cleanse once a month or once every three months to clean out the cells.
Exercise to build muscle about 3 times per week.

Remember, the body runs on energy. If you are unable to produce energy, you will not feel well, you get diseases such as heart and brain dysfunction, and many die young. By using these principles you can easily avoid metabolic syndrome, and reverse it if you already have it. Natural remedies are better than using medications to reverse symptoms, plus they don’t prevent unnecessary complications. Plus, the program outlined here gives you energy and improves every function of your body.

Frank is dramatically feeling better. He was happy the day he could see his belt because his belly had shrunk. He has more energy, and is able to play and hike with his children, instead of just watch them. He still craves sweets, at times, but has already decided that the sacrifice is worth the benefits he gets from not returning to his old habits. Overall, he’s much happier with his life, including his lifestyle.

You may feel your metabolic syndrome symptoms are out of control, but you can choose how to respond and what comes your way. Will it be health or will it be disease? One outlook zaps energy, the other fuels it. Frank can now see his belt…and has a smile on his face. Which one would you prefer?

Metabolic Syndrome: Dr. Saunders Recovery Protocol

How Does Metabolic Syndrome Happen?

How Do We Treat Metabolic Syndrome?

1. Reduce Insulin to Reverse Metabolic Syndrome