Hi David. The IOL article you posted the URL for is full of very
conventional, widely-accepted misinformation. Let me dissect a few lines as
examples.

IOL: "Obesity's main causes are well-known - an unhealthy diet and lack of
exercise."
       Obesity is caused by insulin resistance; unhealthy diets and lack of
exercise are intermediate, not primary causes, of obesity. Insulin
resistance makes us crave carbohydrates, especially sugar, and it punishes
us with dysphoria if we resist those cravings. Insulin resistance also makes
exercise more difficult. Obese people were insulin resistant for years
before they become obese.

IOL: "Together with hypertension and high levels of fat and sugar in the
blood, [obesity] plays in a deadly quartet that quickly becomes metabolic
syndrome (MTS)."
       Insulin resistance causes hypertension, high blood fats, high
glucose, and obesity. [Dys]metabolic syndrome is just an advanced stage of
insulin resistance. Type 2 diabetes is an even more advanced form of insulin
resistance.

IOL: "The metabolism of MTS sufferers increasingly veers off course and
could lead to a heart attack or stroke."
       Heart attacks and strokes are caused by chronic infections of the
coronary and cerebral arteries. Some of those same infections raise cortisol
levels, and the extra cortisol initiates insulin resistance. That is why
heart disease, strokes, and [dys]metabolic syndrome are often found
together. [Dys]metabolic syndrome facilitates heart attacks and strokes, but
it does not cause them.

       You can find everything I've said above on PubMed
(http://www.ncbi.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi) if your are willing to put a few
hours into it. Russ Farris    http://www.potbellysyndrome.com

http://www.int.iol.co.za/index.php?set_id=14&click_id=117&art_id=qw1143426601310R131