Metabolic syndrome checklist: five numbers in one visit
Five numbers, two of which can be obtained at home in a minute and three in a laboratory with one blood draw. Three out of five are outside the limit — metabolic syndrome: a condition in which the risk of diabetes increases fivefold and the risk of a heart attack two- to threefold. Weight is not on the list. Check whether you are among the 12% in whom all five are normal. Section — metabolic flexibility.
Checklist for women
| Criterion | Threshold | Where to get it | What is behind it |
|---|---|---|---|
| Waist | 80 cm or higher | tape measure at the navel, at home | visceral fat |
| Blood pressure | 130/85 or higher or medication | blood pressure monitor in the morning, at home | insulin retains sodium and water |
| Fasting glucose | 5.6 mmol/L or higher or medication | laboratory | insulin resistance |
| Triglycerides | 1.7 mmol/L or higher | laboratory | sugar and fructose in the liver |
| HDL | below 1.3 mmol/L | laboratory | little fat, lots of carbohydrates |
One lever for all five
The five criteria look like five different problems — for a cardiologist, endocrinologist, and dietitian. In reality, they have one mechanism behind them: high insulin. It retains sodium — blood pressure; stores fat in the abdomen — waist; makes the liver turn sugar into fat — triglycerides; displaces HDL; and eventually can no longer cope — glucose. One lever — and one treatment: whatever lowers insulin. The flexibility it restores is metabolic flexibility.
3 out of 5
— syndrome
×5
risk of diabetes
12%
of adults — all five are normal
0-1
criteria after 6 months of the method
What happens month by month
Weeks 1-4: blood pressure down 5-10 — water leaves; waist down 2-4 cm. Month 3: triglycerides down by a third, fasting glucose approaching normal, waist down 5-8. Month 6: HDL up 10-20%, waist below 80 in most people whose starting measurement was up to 95. Retesting schedule: before starting, after 3 months, after 6 months. And one visit to a doctor with the test forms — instead of three visits to different specialists. About sugar — HbA1c and prediabetes, about lipids — triglycerides and HDL, about blood pressure — blood pressure on a low-carb diet.
Check yourself in one week
Day 1: waist
At the navel, in the morning, without pulling your stomach in. Write it down.
Days 1-3: blood pressure
In the morning, before coffee, sitting down, the average of two readings. Three days.
Day 4: laboratory
Glucose, triglycerides, HDL — fasting for 12 hours. Plus insulin and HbA1c, if possible.
Day 7: count
How many of the five are outside the limit. Three or more — syndrome. One or two — warning.
Next
Sugar and flour out of the house, a time window, walking, strength training. Retest after 3 months.
Mistakes
- Assume that with a normal weight this does not concern you
- Test only glucose — it rises last
- See each criterion with a separate doctor and treat five criteria with five pills
- Measure your waist with your stomach pulled in
- Do not retest after 3 months — you will not see what works
Frequently asked questions
Two out of five criteria — can I relax?
No. This is a warning 3-5 years before the syndrome, and now everything can be reversed in months through food. Three is already more difficult.
Are the thresholds the same for men?
Waist — 94 cm, HDL — below 1.0. Everything else is the same.
Is the syndrome a diagnosis forever?
No. The criteria disappear when insulin decreases; in most people, after 6 months of the method there are 0-1 left. This is a condition, not a sentence.
- Energy crashes after eating: why you feel sleepy after lunchLunch — and an hour later you can't work. It's not that you "overate"; it's a roller coaster: blood sugar rises, insulin overshoots, and blood sugar drops below normal. Reactive hypoglycemia, the afternoon slump, and how to eat so you have energy after a meal.
- Metabolic flexibility: why some can go 16 hours without eating while others «crash» after threeA healthy body switches from carbohydrates to fat overnight. A body fueled by sugar six times a day has forgotten how: without food for three hours — shaking and brain fog. It’s not character, but a rusty switch, and it can be fixed in a month.
- Ketones without the mystery: what they are, where they come from, and why you don't need to chase themWhen fat burns quickly, the liver turns it into ketones — fuel for the brain. 0,5-3 mmol/L is normal without carbohydrates, not ketoacidosis. What they mean, how to measure them, and why strips aren't needed.
- Sugar swings: why you are hungry again two hours after eatingA teaspoon of sugar in five liters of blood is normal. A bun adds three more, the pancreas removes them with a surplus, and two hours later comes hunger, brain fog, and cravings. What the swings look like and why they do not happen after an omelet.
- Fatty liver: the organ that responds to sugar firstThe liver is the only organ that processes fructose, and it stores the excess in itself. One in four adults has fatty liver without symptoms. How to suspect what is causing it and why it recovers in 2-4 months.
- HbA1c and prediabetes: the number your doctor calls “borderline”5,7-6,4% — prediabetes, and half of people develop diabetes within 5-10 years. This is the last moment when everything can be reversed through food. Ranges, what the number means, a three-month plan, and when to retest.
- Blood Sugar
- Cholesterol and Heart
- Metabolic Flexibility
Reviewed by Anastasia Zhukova, Fitness Trainer • Author of a Nutrition and Training System • Creator of an AI Personal Support Platform
A human has reviewed this material against the method and real client practice.