Metabolic syndrome, or syndrome X, is a name for a combination of health disorders that serve as risk factors for a heart disease. The five conditions that mark metabolic syndrome are: having low levels of HDL or High Density Lipoprotein (below 40 mg/dl for men and below 50 mg/dl for women), high blood pressure, high blood glucose, high triglyceride level and being overweight.

You only need have three of the above conditions to be classified as having metabolic syndrome and therefore be at increased risk for heart disease and should take the necessary steps to reduce the risk. Statistically, in all industrialized countries worldwide, about 30 percent of the people are said to have metabolic syndrome due to having at least 3 of the conditions that increase the risk for heart disease.

It is important to note that metabolic syndrome is not caused by dietary and lifestyle factors alone. In the same way that high blood cholesterol can also be caused by genetic tendency to produce excess amounts of cholesterol by the liver, metabolic syndrome can also be partly brought up due to hereditary factors. If anyone in your family was diagnosed with any of the five conditions that mark metabolic syndrome, you are in fact in greater risk to develop those symptoms and therefore are in increased risk of having metabolic syndrome.

With that said, in the same way the low cholesterol diet and exercise can help to lower cholesterol regardless of how genetically prone to elevated cholesterol levels a person is, it is possible to reduce the risk of having metabolic syndrome by stepping into a low fat low cholesterol diet combined with regular exercise and the intake of vitamins and minerals to fight most of the conditions that lead to metabolic syndrome.

Dangerous conditions such as low HDL cholesterol, high blood pressure, high blood glucose or obesity, can all be prevented and controlled through dietary and lifestyle changes. A diet low in cholesterol, saturated fat and hydrogenated fat, which is also rich in vitamins minerals and antioxidants combined with regular physical activity can significantly help you to reduce weight, to lower high blood pressure and blood glucose and to raise the HDL cholesterol all in which can reduce the risk of having metabolic syndrome and heart disease.