Risks

• The risk factors that define metabolic syndrome are abdominal obesity, high levels of triglycerides (a type of fat found in your blood), low levels of HDL (high-density lipoprotein) or "good" cholesterol in the blood, high blood pressure, and high blood sugar. An individual with three or more of these risk factors is said to have metabolic syndrome.
  
  The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reports that, in the United States, both the number of people with the individual risk factors and the number of those with three or more are high: 34% of adults over 20 years of age are now thought to have metabolic syndrome, and this percentage gets higher with increasing age.
  
  

Obesity

• Experts agree that people who are pear-shaped (who carry weight in their hip area), are healthier than those who are apple shaped. "Apples" have excess abdominal fat, which is linked closely to cardiovascular disease. Abdominal obesity is defined as having a waist that measures more than 35 inches if you are female, and more than 40 inches if you are male. CDC data show that 53% of those with metabolic syndrome can be classified as having abdominal obesity, by far the most common risk factor for metabolic syndrome.
  
  

Blood Lipids

• When you overeat, excess calories are stored in your fat cells as substances called triglycerides. When your body needs more energy, triglycerides are released from the fat cells to nourish you. However, if you make a habit of regularly eating too much, your body will have high levels of circulating triglycerides that it doesn't need, and this condition is linked to heart disease.
  
  Triglyceride levels over 150 mg/dL are considered a risk factor for metabolic syndrome. Another fat found in the blood is cholesterol, and there are two kinds. HDL cholesterol is the good kind; LDL, or low-density lipoprotein cholesterol, causes blockage of the arteries. You want to have high levels of HDL cholesterol (and low levels of LDL--remember the "L" for the one that needs to be "low").
  
  Low levels of HDL are linked to an increase in heart disease: your HDL should be over 50 mg/dL if you are female and over 40 mg/dL if you are male. The CDC reports that 31% of adults with metabolic syndrome have high triglyceride levels, and 25% have low HDL cholesterol.
  
  

Hypertension

• Hypertension, also known as high blood pressure, is another significant risk factor for metabolic syndrome. Normal blood pressure is 120/80 mmHg; prehypertension is defined as 120-139/80-89 mm Hg, stage 1 hypertension as 140-159/90-99 mmHg; and stage 2 hypertension as 160+/100+. Any blood pressure over 130/85 (note that this falls in the prehypertension range) is considered to be a risk factor for metabolic syndrome. The CDC reports that 40% of Americans diagnosed with metabolic syndrome have hypertension as a risk factor.
  
  

Hyperglycemia

• Hyperglycemia, or high blood sugar, is the last of the six risk factors making up the metabolic syndrome, and is often caused by a condition called insulin resistance, in which a person takes in too many sugars to be properly metabolized by the body's insulin, the hormone that turns them into energy. Normal fasting blood sugar is 100 mg/dL, and anything above that is a risk factor for metabolic syndrome (85% of those with diabetes also have metabolic syndrome). Thirty-nine percent of those with metabolic syndrome in the United States have hyperglycemia as a risk factor.