Metabolic syndrome affects how we metabolize calories. Many diabetics have it, as do many people who are overweight. Criteria:

Elevated waist circumference
Elevated triglycerides and blood pressure
Low HDL cholesterol (the Healthy one, vs LDL, the Lethal one, get it?)
Elevated fasting glucose.
Insulin resistance (we make our own, but people with metabolic syndrome can't use it properly)

About 1 in 3 people in the US have it; overweight and diets with a lot of processed/refined carbs are a big factor.

I'm pretty average weight, but I'm doing a mostly Keto diet and trying to follow the Autoimmune Protocol Diet in hopes it will help with my strange pain, which I think might be PMR but docs don't think so.

I'm ordering keto dinners from a company called Factor. They're delicious and I'm losing weight (about 10 lbs in a few weeks, which is closer to what I'd like to be). A few problems with delivery, but I love the food. (not a plug, just info).

I try to eat just protein and non-starchy veggies before dinner - smoked salmon/arugula salad, salami or pastrami and pickles or olives, stuff like that. I drink espresso in coconut milk with fake sugar in the morning instead of coffee and half-and-half, and I like it just as much.

ANY processed carbs we eat trigger a need for insulin to process them. If you're insulin-resistant, that triggers to body to store the calories as fat. The keto diet is very low in carbs, but delicious because of all the meat and fat you get to eat. 🙂

The AIP diet excludes LOTS more than a Keto diet - mainly you can have meat and veggies and a little fruit. No legumes, dairy, nuts, seeds, eggs. It's a little tough to stick to but I'm trying to stick pretty close. We'll see. . . I think just sticking with a keto diet helps with weight loss and MAYBE pain related to inflammation, which comes with metabolic syndrome.

Congrats on losing 30 lbs! That's no small achievement!