cardiovascular risk

There are two indicators you can calculate very simply to determine your cardiovascular risk:

The first is the waist circumference to height ratio:

  • Measure your waist and height.
  • Divide the waist value by height.
  • Write down the result.
Interpretation:
  • less than 0.5 → Excellent, low risk. 
  • between 0.5 - 0.6 → Increased risk of cardiovascular disease and diabetes. 
  • greater than 0.6 → Very high risk. 

Why does it matter?
Abdominal (visceral) fat is metabolically active and secretes hormones and inflammatory molecules that lead to:
  • Insulin resistance → type 2 diabetes mellitus
  • Hypertension
  • Dyslipidemia (TG ↑, HDL ↓)
  • Chronic inflammation → increased risk of cardiovascular disease and cancer

The second is the TG/HDL ratio (triglycerides/HDL cholesterol): a very valuable indicator for assessing insulin resistance, cardiovascular risk and metabolic health. These are two routine analyses, but unfortunately (almost) nobody calculates this ratio, which gives a much more reliable picture than each value taken separately.

In order to calculate it, the two values must be expressed in mg/dl (as is usual in Romania), and HDL must be greater than 40 mg/dl (a lower value indicates a major danger, regardless of the value of the ratio).

Interpretation:

  • less than 2 → Excellent - good insulin sensitivity, low risk of cardiovascular disease
  • between 2 - 3 → Moderate risk - beginning of insulin resistance
  • between 3 and 4 → Increased risk - probably insulin resistance, metabolic syndrome
  • greater than 4 → Very high risk - danger of type 2 diabetes, accelerated atherosclerosis

Example:
TG = 120 mg/dl, HDL = 60 mg/dl → TG/HDL = 2 → low risk.
TG = 200 mg/dl, HDL = 40 mg/dl → TG/HDL = 5 → very high risk.

An increased TG/HDL ratio is associated with:

  • Insulin resistance - the first step towards type 2 diabetes.
  • Atherogenic dyslipidemia - high triglycerides, low HDL, low but dense and oxidized LDL (sdLDL).
  • Increased risk of cardiovascular disease - heart attack, stroke.
  • Non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) - metabolic fatty liver.
  • Metabolic syndrome - the combination of abdominal obesity, hypertension, high blood glucose.
How can we improve these indicators?
  1. Intermittent fasting (IF) or reduced meal frequency → lowers insulin, mobilizes triglycerides, reduces weight (especially visceral fat)
  2. Reducing refined carbohydrates and sugar → lowers triglycerides.
  3. Increase your intake of healthy fats: omega-3 (oily fish, fish oil), olive oil, avocado.
  4. Regular exercise - raises HDL and lowers TG.
  5. Useful extras:
  • Omega-3 - very effective for lowering TG. Dose: 1 capsule per day
  • Maslin leaf extract - improves insulin sensitivity. Dose: 70 ml/day
  • Vitamin D3 + K2 + Magnesium - support metabolism. Dose: 1 capsule per day
  • AHCC and Zeolite Spectrum - to reduce chronic inflammation.
    • AHCC dosage: 3 capsules a day AHCC Mycelcaps or 2 capsules a day AHCC Vitals
    • Zeolit Spectrum dosage: start with one capsule on the first day and increase daily by one capsule until 6 capsules are taken (3 in the morning and 3 in the evening). Drink 2 liters of fluid per day. If taking medication, take 2 hours off.