sequence Professor Zhang Tianjun from National Taiwan University Hospital recommended me to write a preface for this book. I was a little surprised. He probably thought that the content of this book had something to do with some research I had done in the past.Recalling that from 1987 to 1989, I was at the Stanford University Clinical Research Center in the United States, following the father of the metabolic syndrome (metabolic syndrome) (also known as unknown syndrome, Syndrome X) mentioned in this book Jerrod Levin (Gerald M. Reaven), engaged in research on metabolic syndrome.Metabolic syndrome refers to hypertension, dyslipidemia (high triglycerides, low HDL cholesterol), obesity (excessive abdominal circumference), insulin resistance, and abnormal carbohydrate metabolism (elevated blood sugar). Patients are prone to some or all of the above symptoms.People with this syndrome are more likely to suffer from cardiovascular diseases in the future, and the real cause of these symptoms is the failure of insulin function, or insulin resistance (insulin resistance).

Although Professor Li Wen is not the first scholar to discover metabolic syndrome, he has a unique vision and sees that this disease not only occurs in diabetic patients, but also in many chronic diseases, such as hypertension, heart disease, abnormal sugar metabolism ( People with higher blood sugar than normal but not yet at the level of diabetes) also have this symptom, so it is necessary to find out these patients and give them early treatment.Because of Professor Li Wen's outstanding contribution, the American Diabetes Association (American Diabetes Association) awarded him the Banting Award in 1988, which symbolizes the highest academic achievement. In his award speech, he called this syndrome unknown syndrome, Because it still has many unknown and unresearched pathogenic causes.

Insulin is secreted by the pancreas and enters the blood circulation. When the nutrients in the food, mainly carbohydrates, are absorbed by the body and partly converted into glucose molecules (blood sugar), it will stimulate insulin secretion. Too much insulin in the blood for a long time (high Insulinemia) is not a good phenomenon, it will destroy blood vessels and form atherosclerosis.For this simple reason, carbohydrate foods should not be eaten too much.Here comes the problem. There are three major nutrients in food. Besides carbohydrates, they are fat and protein. How should the ratio of the three be distributed properly?Suppose if we limit carbohydrates and can't eat too much protein (it will increase the burden on the kidneys), should we increase fat intake?Didn't nutrition experts tell us that the fat in our food will make us gain weight and raise blood cholesterol levels?In fact, these two factions have been in dispute for more than ten years. One group advocates that the carbohydrates in food should not be eaten too much from the viewpoint of metabolic syndrome, and the other group believes that the intake of fat in food must be limited based on the viewpoint of fat. Supported by academic research data.However, in recent years, more and more scholars are concerned about metabolic syndrome. According to the latest US National Nutrition Survey data, nearly a quarter of American adults over the age of 20 have this syndrome.

This book is obviously on the same point as Professor Li Wen. The author cites a lot of information, from ancient human genetic evolution, the life style of the Stone Age to the latest modern research data, trying to explain the low-fat diet recommended by traditional medical circles and nutrition experts Prescription, not quite right, because low fat means high carb.In fact, eating too much carbohydrates can easily be converted into fat and stored in the body.Therefore, regular exercise, smoking cessation, and maintaining an ideal weight are very important.The author's suggestion for food is to reduce the intake of carbohydrates, and to focus on whole grain products. The ideal is to get carbohydrates from fruits, vegetables, legumes, and more protein. Eat more fish, beans, and lean meat , poultry, etc., the fat is mainly monounsaturated fat.

Some of the translated terms in this book are not commonly used in the local area, and it may take more imagination to read them.On the whole, this book tries to explore how to allocate the three major nutrients in food from an increasingly popular disease metabolic syndrome, which is different from traditional dietary advice, and it is worthy of in-depth study by interested readers. Taichung Veterans General Hospital Teaching and Research Department Chief Physician Xu Huiheng