I'll Just Have One

With the holidays just around the corner, you may be tempted not to just eat more, but also to drink more than usual. But here's another good reason to limit your alcohol intake. A study in The Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism found that woman who had more than one drink on any given day had a 60 percent higher risk, than those who stuck to one, of developing metabolic syndrome. What is metabolic syndrome? It's a group of metabolic risk factors in one person. People with the metabolic syndrome are at increased risk of coronary heart disease, stroke and type 2 diabetes. The risk factors are:

• Abdominal obesity (excessive fat tissue in and around the abdomen)
• Atherogenic dyslipidemia (blood fat disorders — high triglycerides, low HDL cholesterol and high LDL cholesterol — that foster plaque buildups in artery walls)
• Elevated blood pressure
• Insulin resistance or glucose intolerance (the body can’t properly use insulin or blood sugar)
• Prothrombotic state (e.g., high fibrinogen or plasminogen activator inhibitor–1 in the blood)
• Proinflammatory state (e.g., elevated C-reactive protein in the blood)

Reduce your metabolic syndrome risks by only having one drink per day, exercise at least 30 minutes a day, achieve a desirable weight, and reduced your intake of saturated fat, trans fat and cholesterol. Sources: December 2008, Women's Health www.AmericanHeart.org