Arguably the most important for preventing chronic disease, I consider your metabolic health as a disease of your blood vessels. As your blood vessels sustain damage, your body attempts to repair this damage with “cholesterol plaques”. When these plaques either break off or cause complete blockage, you get damage to the organ that loses blood flow. When this happens to your heart, it’s called a heart attack. When this happens to your brain, it’s called a stroke. This can also happen to your kidneys, liver, intestines, eyes, or extremities. 

The most important questions are: 

1. What causes damage to blood vessels?
   • Tobacco use
   • Insulin Resistance
   • High Blood Pressure
   • Chronic Emotional Stress
2. How can we assess your risk?
   • Lipid panel, A1c
   • Apo-B, Lp(a), OGTT
   • VO2 max testing, RMR, DEXA
3. What can we do to prevent & treat this?
   • Activity modification
   • Diet modification
   • Avoid toxins
   • Medications/Supplements