A big steak with french fries and a buttery, white roll is not the ideal meal. Published in the on-line journal Circulation last month, a long-term study has shown these unhealthy foods -- red meat, fried foods and processed grains -- are associated with an 18 percent increased risk for metabolic syndrome. Abdominal obesity, high cholesterol and elevated blood glucose and blood pressure comprise metabolic syndrome, the collective risk factors for cardiovascular disease and diabetes.

Don't order a diet soda with that steak and side of fries, either. This same study, which examined the diets and health of 9,500 men and women between the ages of 45 to 64 over nine years, determined the risk of developing metabolic syndrome was a whopping 34 percent higher among one-can-a-day diet soda drinkers compared to diet-soda-teetotalers.

As one author of the research wondered, is there a chemical in diet soda or certain behaviors common among diet soda drinkers that explain this increased risk for metabolic syndrome? I gave up regular diet soda consumption months ago, but I do imbibe on a rare occasion. Hmm. Maybe 'everything in moderation' does not apply for metabolic syndrome in a can.