SYNDROME X: LOW HDL, HIGH TRIGLYCERIDES
Report #7191
People who have low blood levels of the good HDL cholesterol and high blood levels of triglycerides are at high risk for heart attacks (1). HDL cholesterol is called the good cholesterol because it carries LDL cholesterol from your blood to your liver before it can form plaques in arteries (2). Triglycerides are manufactured by your liver from extra food that you take in, primarily from refined carbohydrates that cause a high rise in blood sugar. Then your pancreas releases large amounts of insulin that converts sugar to triglycerides. High levels of triglycerides cause clotting and plaquing, so the good HDL cholesterol then carries triglycerides from your bloodstream to your liver, and excessive amounts of triglycerides cause a condition called fatty liver that interferes with liver function.
A major function of the liver is to remove insulin from the bloodstream after it has driven sugar from the bloodstream into cells. Excessive amounts of triglycerides in the liver (fatty liver) prevent the liver from removing insulin from the bloodstream, so large amounts of insulin accumulate in the bloodstream to constrict arteries to cause heart attacks, affect the brain to make you hungry, affect the liver to manufacture even more fat, and cause you to deposit even more fat in your belly. So people with high blood levels of triglycerides and low levels of the good HDL cholesterol are at high risk for obesity, diabetes and heart attacks. These people should avoid all refined carbohydrates that start the cycle of high blood sugar levels calling out huge amounts of insulin.
The low HDL cholesterol, high-triglyceride syndrome, called Syndrome X, is genetic and is aggravated by eating too much food. If you have this syndrome, go on a diet that is loaded vegetables, whole grains, beans and other seeds; and avoid all of the refined carbohydrates: foods made with flour, white rice, milled corn, and all added sugars. See report #8614.
1) Fasting triglycerides, high-density lipoprotein, and risk of myocardial infarction. Circulation 96: 8 (OCT 21 1997):2520-2525. Fasting triglycerides, as a marker for triglyceride-rich lipoproteins, may provide valuable information about the atherogenic potential of the lipoprotein profile, particularly when considered in context of HDL levels.
2) Brinton EA, Eisenberg S, Breslau JL, et al. A low-fat diet decreases high density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol levels by decreasing HDL apolipoprotein transport rates. J Clin Invest 1990;85:144-151
By Gabe Mirkin, M.D., for CBS Radio News
Reported 9/1/97; Checked 9/5/05