Customer Reviews

Syndrome X: Overcoming The Silent Killer That Can Give You A Heart Attack

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I got a copy of Syndrome X after reading the lengthy review in "Nutrition Action." After years of nonsense about insulin from Barry Sears and the like, it's great to find a real doctor who can set the record straight.

Dr. Reaven spent three decades conducting the insulin research, he's a Stanford University professor and a medical doctor who really knows how the body uses insulin, who really understands the relationship between insulin and heart disease, as well as insulin and fat.

But, Dr. Reaven isn't writing a diet: it's heart disease he's concerned about. Specifically, a little-known but widespread variant called Syndrome X. If you have Syndrome X, the "good: dietary advice your doctor gives you will actually increase your risk of heart disease. (Of course, odds are you don't know if you have Syndrome X because most doctors do not know about it yet.)

If you want to really learn about this "silent" type of heart disease that gives millions of people heart attacks, read this book. Why do I care so much? Because I have Syndrome X, but now, thanks to Reaven's book, my doctor and I know what to do to keep me alive.

Finally, someone has come up with an explanation for why so many people are having heart attacks despite normal cholesterol and other standard risk factors. Several years ago I had a heart attack, even though my cholesterol was only 170 and I was following my doctor's diet to the letter. My doctor didn't know that the diet he was telling me to eat -- the same diet recommended by all the heart experts -- is actually dangerous for people with Syndrome X. I did some research, found out about Dr. Reaven and his work on Syndrome X, showed the materials to my doctor and we changed my diet around. Soon after, my blood test results started changing. The same risk factors that refused to budge when I was on the so-called "healthy heart" diet now fell into place. Dr. Reaven's discovery of Syndrome X saved my life. Now that he's written a book on Syndrome X, he'll probably save millions more.

This book devotes the lion's share of information to the Syndrome X Diet and explanation. Dr. Reaven's menus present an easy eating plan with the correct proportions of protein, carbohydrate and fats (mostly monnounsaturated fat) for those who have developed the syndrome. But he points out that it's also a nutritionally complete diet for the whole family. This is an important since one member of a family having Syndrome X means that others in the family are more likely to have developed it as well. This book turns the American Heart Asssociation upside down by promoting a low carb and higher good-fat eating. But again and again, Dr. Reaven points to the irrefutable evidence of more than 35 years of research, that this is the right diet for Syndrome Xers. This is very credible advice coming from the most re-knowned research physician in the field of insulin resistance, and who was also the first to discover syndrome x and how to treat it. He maps out 30-day menu plans for weight maintenance and another 30-day plan for weight loss. There is nothing difficult to understand or follow about this diet, and if the weight loss diet of 1,200 to 1,500 calories sounds like starvation, think again, because the balance of good fats, protein and carbohydrates provide a very satisfying diet that is really a model for a lifelong eating plan.

The evidence is accumulating: perhaps a low-fat, high-carbohydrate diet is not the best for everyone in order to prevent atherosclerosis and its effect on heart disease. In the popular press, there have appeared several books that challenged this approach: Dr. Atkin's New Diet, Barry Sears's The Zone, Drs. Michael & Mary Eades' Protein Power, and now Syndrome X. This last book was written by individuals with impeccable credentials, for its lead author is the Chairman of the Endocrinology Department at Stanford University's Medical School.

I've read all of these books-with more than casual interest since I've had a heart attack with no previous symptoms while on a low-fat, high-carbohydrate diet. These books have my attention, for obvious reasons.

Syndrome X does a very credible job of describing the effects insulin has on lipids, including triglycerides. The analysis presented is relatively easy to follow, even for someone like myself who does not have a degree in biochemistry or medicine. The discussions on type 2 diabetes, and the effect of alcohol on lipids, are some of the most understandable I have ever read. It reemphasizes the fact that total calories, regardless of whether they are from fat, protein, or carbohydrates, must be taken into account in any weight-loss program. It mentions that blood lipid chemistry will improve if weight loss is also occurring, regardless of the type of diet that one is on.

The book presents a rather straightforward medical procedure to determine if one has what the authors have labeled as Syndrome X. It discusses the problems Syndrome X can cause. This is new information that individuals who suspect they have this condition should bring to the attention of their personal physicians.

The book also presents a dietary prescription that can minimize the effects of Syndrome X, namely 15% protein, 40% fat (preferably unsaturated), and 45% carbohydrates. Unfortunately, though, the authors present none of the data leading up to this dietary recommendation, so one cannot tell what the sensitivity of these ratios are on the blood-lipid chemistry of one suffering from Syndrome X.

This sensitivity is important as one tries to plan menus to implement the authors' dietary recommendations. The book does give menus, but are presented in a very clinical manner that does nothing more than show it is possible to eat foods that follow its recommendations. Most of us do not eat with a Palm Pilot in hand, keeping track of the precise percentage of nutrients in every morsel. We purchase food in grocery stores that have attractive produce, meat, dairy, and bakery sections, not protein, fat, and carbohydrate sections. This diet could be rather hard to follow, since there apparently is no easy formulary that can be used when preparing meals. For instance, a low-fat, high-carbohydrate diet is easy to plan for: simply utilize as little fat-and as much carbohydrate-in your meals as you can tolerate.

The authors mention that protein and carbohydrates are metabolized in a similar manner by the body. Therefore, what appears to be critical in the Syndrome X diet is the percentage of fat that should be consumed. If true, this fact can be used to plan meals that are modifications of foods that we are used to eating. We all know that it is easier to modify our diet by leaving something out or adding reasonable portions of something new than to eat completely different foods.

The book's biggest shortcoming is that it does not give any dietary modification guidelines for individuals to use who currently are on cholesterol-reducing drugs. Many individuals with elevated cholesterol, as well as Syndrome X, probably are on some statin to improve their blood lipid chemistry, yet still could benefit from the research that lead up to this book. Which nutrient should they first try to change in their diet? This book gives no guidance to these individuals.

In conclusion, this book adds credence to the fact that all humans and their metabolisms must be individually tuned, and that a standard one-for-all approach doesn't work for heart disease, as in many of the other things that humans are faced with in life.

Finally, the medical authority on preventing heart attack from causes other than cholesterol has written a book. Even other doctors who go on television and radio to talk about Syndrome X come first to Dr. Reaven for information, and that's because he was the first physician to identify and describe Syndrome X. Dr. Reaven, from Stanford University, gave the medical community this information years ago, and now he has provided the rest of us with the answers. His advice is not based on some pop fad, it comes from decades of research into Syndrome X and why insulin resistance and high insulin levels lead to half, maybe more, of all heart attacks. When I read the book and realized that just keeping my cholesterol low wasn't going to necessarily prevent a heart attack, I had myself tested for Syndrome X. I was shocked that not only I had the disorder, but so do my son and daughter. The whole family now follows the Syndrome X Diet and we've all gotten our lipid values, which were dangerously high, down to normal. Thank you Dr. Reaven. You're book is a life saver!

I read the other book Syndrome X, then this one. This is the better of the two, much more detailed and complete. I like the fact that Dr. Reaven goes into all the studies. I also like the fact that he's the man who conducted all the studies on insulin and heart disease, that he's the man who discovered Syndrome X. Unlike other authors, who only report on things they're read about, Dr. Reaven was there, in the laboratory and with the patients.

Excellent book--an important contribution to the self-care libraries of insulin resistant persons. However, the diet could benefit from an accompanying User's Manual. Unfortunately, the easy, tasty and satisfying but limited-portion menus provided by Reaven require long shopping lists and produce a burgeoning inventory of unused ingredients and leftover portions which are not adequately recycled into subsequent meals. And achieving Reaven's meticulously combined variety of foods in the correct ratio of protein, carbohydrate and fat would seem to require a linear programming model. If it is indeed realistic to expect a lay person to graduate from Reaven's 30-day menu and sustain the recommended eating program on his own, management guidelines are urgently needed.

SYNDROME X is a gold mine of new medical information based on the life work of Dr. Gerald Reaven, Professor of Cardiovascular Medicine at Stanford University School of Medicine. Dr. Reaven, the first medical investigator to describe this disorder, adds to and refines the usual "save your heart" advice we1ve been getting for years. It explains, for the first time, why because of a common cluster of metabolic abnormalities called Syndrome X, we can have low cholesterol levels and still land in the emergency room with a heart attack that comes without warning. This comprehensive, clearly written medical guide provides a 6-step program to detect and manage the disorder, along with a complete diet plan of Dr. Reaven1s recommended ratio of fats to carbohydrate and protein. The flexible menu plans contain of 1,200, 1,500 and 1,800 calories in 30-day menus, plus snacks for those who need additional daily calories. It also provides exercise recommendations, talks about alcohol intake, how to stop smoking, how to lose weight, medications and when they are necessary, and what to do when other medical conditions are present with Syndrome X.

This book is the real thing. It's scientifically based, definitely not faddish information. I knew I had Syndrome X when I read the first few pages of it.

However the diet is hard to follow. You have to constantly eat in the percentages he recommends, even when snacking, and that's not easy to do. I would also appreciate some tips on how to plan meals using the right percentages. Also as others have said, Dr. Reaven doesn't emphasize the importance of Omega 6 fatty acids enough. The book is a terrific summation of the research, but the dietary advice is frustrating to try and follow. I hope that soon some registered dietician will write a book on how to plan menus and adapt my own recipes meeting these guidelines.

This is an excellent book, and frankly, I can't praise it highly enough. As a practicing physician who does alot of adult internal medicine, I spend much of my time translating difficult medical concepts into laymen's terms for my patients. I particularly enjoyed this book because it is very clearly written and totally accessible even for those with no medical background. Even the most difficult concepts have been made highly understandable. Syndrome X is still poorly understood by the vast majority of physicians and I think this book will prove to a be major step in re-educating the medical community.