There are several benefits of exercising. It helps in preventing many diseases associated with old age. Most of the heart diseases, diabetes, arthritis and high blood pressure can all be prevented by doing exercise. Exercise is advised by the American Heart Association, the American Diabetes Association, the National Institutes of Health and the Arthritis Foundation. By having a half an hour long exercising session thrice a week, you can get rid of the diseases that occur with aging.

Maddi McDonough of Pembroke, Massachusetts is aged 66. She loves to exercise daily to stay fit. She takes around ten thousand steps every day. She has benefited tremendously from the regular exercise. Her cholesterol levels have gone down, her blood pressure is maintained and sciatica which had kept her bedridden has disappeared. She is one of the many people who have snapped pedometers onto their belts and joined the 10,000 steps club. She exclaims as to how she was able to hike up to the peak of Mt. Pilatus when she visited Switzerland. She says I was able to hike while others just waited at the lodge. She also did white water rafting in Colorado. I was even tempted to for bungee jumping in Australia, but I didn’t do it! she exclaims. It is important to exercise; the type of exercise doesn’t matter much. You need to exercise thrice a week in order to stay fit and healthy.

New developments are being made in the field of medicine. Earlier The Arthritis foundation used to advise rest to the patients of osteoarthritis. However with changing times, this concept also changed. Nowadays you either exercise or get the diseases, the choice is yours. Joints will become inflexible and stiff if you do not use them regularly. Exercise helps to build strong muscles near to the joints, keep the joints flexible. It also helps in reducing the joint pain. However the pain is not relieved completely. In addition to all this, exercise also controls weight, promotes better sleep, increases energy, increases self esteem and decreases depression.

Marilyn Boynton, a 68 year old described herself as an old broad. However things began to change when he started tap dancing at the age of 59. Initially she had a lot of back pain while dancing but instead of giving up she joined a fitness club. Now, her back pain has bettered.

You should not straight away start with strenuous exercises. You should always start with mild exercises and then gradually increase it. You can have some strain or injuries in case you jump to strenuous exercises straight away. To make your exercise successful, follow the following steps advised by the American Heart Association.

• You need to consult your doctor before you start out with any exercise program in case you are overweight, haven’t been active recently or have some chronic illness.
• You should do a number of exercises. You will get bored if do the same type of exercise regularly so choose a number of activities.
• You should start with mild exercises and then increase it slowly.
• It can get boring to exercise alone. Find out a friend and exercising will be much more fun!
• You must wear proper clothes and shoes while you are working out.
• You should exercise regularly, however there is no need to worry if you miss it for a day. Indulge in other types of physical activities to make up for it.
• Warming up is extremely important. You can have certain injuries if you do not warm up before the exercise. It is also important to cool down after the exercise.

You need to exercise to keep yourself healthy and fit. It is important if you want to lead a disease free life!

By committing to eating healthy foods, you can feel better, stay physically fit, and reduce your risk of many chronic diseases including diabetes, osteoporosis, heart disease, and certain cancers. Becoming educated and smart is an essential for you to become a healthy eater.

Here are 10 ‘life extending’ foods that will help you to protect against chronic diseases:

1. Apple

Like many fruits, apple contains vitamin C as well as a host of other antioxidant compounds, which may reduce the risk of cancer by preventing DNA damage. While less fiber content than in most other fruits, apple is useful to lose weight, and controlling cholesterol. In fact, eating 2 large apples a day has lowered cholesterol levels by up to 16%. Research also suggests that apple may reduce the risk of prostate cancer, lung cancer, and colon cancer.

2. Avocado

Avocado is a good source of vitamin A and potassium, a mineral that helps regulate blood pressure. Sufficient intake of potassium can help to protect against circulatory diseases, such as stroke, heart disease, or high blood pressure. Besides that, Avocado has been used traditionally to help people with sexual problems, also great antioxidant and can be used for skin disorders.

3. Blueberry

Blueberry is high in antioxidant vitamins such as vitamin A, C, and E. It is also a good source of dietary fiber. Because a natural and rich source of antioxidants, blueberry is known to have great health benefits. Blueberry is helpful to improve your eyesight and prevent age related loss of vision, lower LDL cholesterol (a cause for stroke and cardiovascular heart disease), and keep your urinary tract healthy by stopping bacteria from lining your bladder walls. In fact, several researches indicate blueberry has potential effects of anti-aging and anti-inflammatory. It also prevent onset of cancer and neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer’s disease and memory loss.

4. Garlic

Garlic contains strong anti viral and anti bacterial that useful to fight common flu and colds. It is high in vitamin B6 and C. Garlic in normal consumption is also helpful to guard against diabetes, cardiovascular disease, and cancer.

5. Oats

Oats have a high Vitamin B1 content, which is needed by the body for carbohydrate metabolism. Oats contain a high percentage of desirable complex carbohydrates, which have been linked to: reduced risk of prostate, colon, and breast cancer; better management of diabetes; and fewer bowel problems such as constipation. Oats are naturally low in fat. Researchers agree that nearly everyone, men and women of all ages and races, benefits from eating a low-fat diet.

Eating oat regularly will lower your blood cholesterol level. It’s a natural antidepressant, will make you feel calmer and normally used to treat depression, anxiety and nervous disorder. That is why you are encouraged to buy and eat oats if you’re feeling sad.

6. Oily fish

Fish is one the world’s healthiest foods, including oily fish that contains Omega-3 fatty acids, very useful to protect against stroke, arthritis, psoriasis, heart disease, and also a host of health anxieties from obesity to sunburns.

7. Olive oil

The greatest example of monounsaturated fat is olive oil, and it is a prime component of the Mediterranean Diet. Olive oil is a natural juice which preserves the taste, aroma, vitamins and properties of the olive fruit. Olive oil is the only vegetable oil that can be consumed as it is – freshly pressed from the fruit. Studies have shown that olive oil is helpful to protect against heart disease by controlling LDL cholesterol levels while raising HDL levels. Including olive oil in your diet may also useful to reduce the risk of colon cancer.

8. Spinach.

The health benefits of spinach are marvelous. Whether eaten fresh or frozen, the vitamins in this leafy green vegetable will benefit our bodies. Spinach contains vitamin A and K. Vitamin A is needed for healthy vision, and helps the cells in our body grow normally. When our bodies found to be lacking this vitamin, health concerns of night blindness, anemia, or celiac disease can be suffered.

Vitamin K helps bone health. It regulates blood flow (normal blood clotting) in our bodies and maintains bone health. It has also been attributed to helping post-menopausal women reduce possible bone fractures that happen with osteoporosis.

9. Tomato

Tomato is high in vitamin A, C, and cancer preventing lycopene, but low in calories. According to the National Cancer Institute, people who eat large amounts of tomatoes and tomato products have a significantly reduced risk for prostate, lung, and stomach cancer.

Tomato is also helpful in reducing high blood pressure, a major risk factor for coronary heart diseases and stroke. Other than that, tomato helps to dissolve animal fat in foods such as in eggs, cheese, butter, beef, pork, and many deep-fried foods, thereby preventing hardening of the arteries.

10. Tree nuts

Tree nuts are a rich source of unsaturated fats that have important health attributes, while high in total fat. Nuts are a good source of heart-healthy monounsaturated oil and antioxidant-rich, bone-strengthening magnesium. In the most recent, the Nurses’ Health Study, researchers found that women who ate at least 5 ounces of nuts per week had a 35% lower risk of coronary heart disease than women who rarely ate nuts. Similar findings have been seen in men.

Countries with very high cholesterol levels, such as Finland, have very high rates of coronary heart disease. However, some populations with similar total cholesterol levels have very different heart disease rates, suggesting that other factors also influence risk for coronary heart disease. High cholesterol is more common in men younger than 55 years and in women older than 55 years. The risk for high cholesterol is known to increases with age.

Cholesterol is a waxy, fat like substance that your body needs to function normally. Cholesterol is naturally present in cell walls or membranes everywhere in the body, including the brain, nerves, muscles, skin, liver, intestines, and heart.

Your body uses cholesterol to produce many hormones, vitamin D, and the bile acids that help to digest fat. It takes only a small amount of cholesterol in the blood to meet these needs. If you have too much cholesterol in your bloodstream, the excess may be deposited in arteries, including the coronary (heart) arteries, where it contributes to the narrowing and blockages that cause the signs and symptoms of heart disease.

Too many Americans have high levels of total cholesterol and LDL (the bad cholesterol). A diet high in saturated fat (a type of fat found mostly in foods that come from animals and certain oils) raises LDL levels more than anything else in your diet. You also eat cholesterol in your diet, although the effect of saturated fat in the diet is greater than the effect of dietary cholesterol.

Trans-fatty acids (seen in processed foods and many “fast foods”) can also increase LDL levels. Dietary cholesterol is found only in foods from animal products. Genetic factors combined with eating too much saturated fat and cholesterol are the main reasons for high levels of cholesterol that lead to heart attacks. Reducing the amount of saturated fat and cholesterol you eat is an important step in reducing your blood cholesterol levels.

The government has reset the standard for LDL levels so that more Americans are included in the risk group. Coronary heart disease (CHD) is caused by cholesterol and fat being deposited in the walls of the arteries that supply nutrients and oxygen to your heart. Like any muscle, the heart needs a constant supply of oxygen and nutrients, which are carried to it by the blood in the coronary arteries.

Fixed narrowing that is often calcified (hardened) usually cause angina (chest pain). Less severe narrowing may contain unstable blockages called atherosclerotic or fatty plaque. Unstable atherosclerotic plaque can rupture, resulting in clot formation, no blood flow, and a heart attack.

If enough oxygen-carrying blood is blocked from reaching your heart, you may experience a type of chest pain called angina. If the blood supply to a portion of the heart is completely cut off by total blockage of a coronary artery, the result is a heart attack. This is usually due to a sudden closure of the artery from a blood clot forming on top of unstable plaque.

A simple blood test checks for high cholesterol. Simply knowing your total cholesterol level is not enough. A complete lipid profile measures your LDL (low-density lipoprotein [the bad cholesterol]), total cholesterol, HDL (high-density lipoprotein [the good cholesterol]), and triglycerides another fatty substance in the blood. Government guidelines say healthy adults should have this analysis every 5 years.

A desirable total cholesterol level is 200 mg/dL or lower. A desirable LDL is 100 mg/dL (130-159 is borderline high; 160 is high; 190 is very high). HDL, the “good cholesterol,” should be around 40 mg/dL or greater. With HDL, the higher the number, the better, and 60 mg/dL is protective against heart disease.

Recent studies have shown that lowering cholesterol in people without heart disease greatly reduces their risk for developing heart disease in the first place. This is true for those with high cholesterol levels and for those with average cholesterol levels.

The Framingham Heart Study established that high blood cholesterol is a risk factor for coronary heart disease (CHD). Results of the Framingham study showed that the higher your cholesterol level, the greater your risk. Several studies have confirmed a direct link between high blood cholesterol and CHD. The Lipid Research Clinics-Coronary Primary Prevention Trial (LRC-CPPT) first showed that lowering total and LDL (bad) cholesterol levels significantly reduces coronary heart disease.

A series of more recent trials of cholesterol-lowering using statin drugs have conclusively demonstrated that lowering total cholesterol and LDL cholesterol reduces your chance of having a heart attack, needing bypass surgery or angioplasty, and dying of CHD-related causes.

In 1994, the Scandinavian Simvastatin Survival Study (4S) was the first study to show that people who took the cholesterol-lowering class of drugs called statins (in this case, simvastatin) reduced their risk for major CHD events (such as a heart attack) by 34%, CHD deaths by 42%, and all deaths by 30% in people with known coronary heart disease and high blood cholesterol levels, compared with people who were given a placebo (a dummy pill that looks exactly like the medication being tested).

This has been called “secondary prevention,” or prevention of a second heart attack, because the study involved people with known heart disease, many of whom had already had at least one heart attack.

The Heart Protection Study, published in 2002, examined men and women of all ages at high risk for heart disease irrespective of their cholesterol levels. Simvastatin treatment reduced CHD events by 24%. This study has caused some experts to suggest that everyone at high risk for CHD would benefit from statin therapy, regardless of their blood cholesterol levels.

Finally, The National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey III (NHANES III), carried out from 1988-1991, discovered that 26% of American adults had high blood cholesterol concentrations, and 49% had desirable values.

The normal level of cholesterol varies between 150 – 200 mg per 100 ml. In blood, cholesterol occurs in combination with certain lipids (fats), hence, known as lipoptroteins. There are two main types of lipoproteins: a low density one (LDL) and a high density one (HDL). The low density lipoprotein is the one which is considered harmful and is associated with cholesterol deposits in blood vessels. The higher the ratio of LDL to the total cholesterol, the greater will be the risk of arterial damage and heart disease. HDL, on the other hand, plays a salutory role by helping remove cholesterol from circulation and thereby reducing the risk of heart disease.

Causes:

Hereditary:
Hypercholesterolaemia or increase in cholesterol is mainly a hereditary disorder.

Excessive consumption of rich foods:
It is also caused by taking rich foods and fried foods: excessive consumption of milk and its products like clarified butter, butter, and cream; white flour, sugar, cakes, pastries, biscuits, cheese, and ice cream; and non-vegetarian foods like meat, fish, and eggs.

Smoking, Drinking and Stress:
Other causes of increase in cholesterol are irregularity in habits, smoking and drinking alcohol. Stress has also been found to be a major cause of increased level of cholesterol.

Symptoms of High Blood Cholesterol:

Following are the major high blood cholesterol symptoms:

1. General fatigue
2. Excess sweating and feel of uneasiness
3. Pain and heaviness in chest area
4. Breathlessness

Home Remedies:

High Blood Cholesterol treatment using Lecithin:
Lecithin, also a fatty food substance and the most abundant of the phospholipids, is beneficial in case of increase in cholesterol level. It has the ability to break up cholesterol into small particles which can be easily handled by the system. With sufficient intake of lecithin, cholesterol cannot build up against the walls of the arteries and veins. Lecithin also increases the production of bile acids made from cholesterol, thereby reducing its amount in the blood, Egg yolk, vegetable oils, wholegrain cereals, soyabeans, and unpasturised milk are rich sources of lecithin. The cells of the body are also capable of synthesizing it as needed, if several of the B vitamins are present.

High Blood Cholesterol treatment using Vitamins:
Vitamins B6, choline, and inositol are particularly effective in reducing the level of blood cholesterol. Wheat germ, yeast, or vitamin B extracted from bran contain high quantities of these vitamins. Vitamin E also elevates blood lecithin and reduces cholesterol. The patient should take liberal quantities of vitamin E-rich foods such as sunflower seeds, safflower, soyabean oils, butter, and sprouted seed and grains.

High Blood Cholesterol treatment using Coriander Seeds:
Regular drinking of a decoction of coriander seeds helps lower blood cholesterol. It is a good diuretic and helps stimulate the kidneys. It is prepared by boiling two tablespoons of dry seeds in a glass of water and straining the decoction after cooling. This decoction should be taken twice daily.

High Blood Cholesterol treatment using Fibre:
The amount of fibre in the diet also influences the cholesterol levels and LDL cholesterol can be lowered by taking diets rich in fibres. The most significant sources of dietary fibre are unprocessed wheat bran, whole cereals such as wheat, rice, barley, rye; legumes such as potatoes, carrots, beet, and turnips, fruits such as mangoes and guavas; and leafy vegetables such as cabbage, ladys fingers, lettuce and celery. Oat bran and corn bran are specially beneficial in lowering LDL cholesterol.

High Blood Cholesterol treatment using Coriander Seeds:
Regular drinking of a decoction of coriander seeds helps lower blood cholesterol. It is a good diuretic and helps stimulate the kidneys. It is prepared by boiling two tablespoons of dry seeds in a glass of water and straining the decoction after cooling. This decoction should be taken twice daily.

Herbal Remedies for High Blood Cholesterol

1. Eat garlic regularly. It is an effective herbal remedy for lowering cholesterol
2. Take 3 grams of mixture of giloye with black pepper powder twice a day. It is also an effective herbal remedy for lowering cholesterol
3. Taking one tablespoon of honey is also good for lowering cholesterol
4. Take guggulu for natural cholesterol lowering
5. Take one teaspoon of oil of the ishabgul seeds twice a day. It will help in lowering blood cholesterol

Cholesterol testing, along with HDL, LDL and triglyceride testing is called the lipoprotein profile.

Cholesterol testing is done several times a year for individuals who are on a prescribed diet and for those who are taking cholesterol lowering medications.

Usually blood samples are drawn from the arm. Sometimes blood samples are taken from the fingertip. The samples are analyzed by a cholesterol testing device. Cholesterol tests are used to monitor the progress in lowering the cholesterol level.

Test results are grouped in three types:

• Desirable – the cholesterol level of 200 mg/dL below is regarded to be desirable because it has a low risk of heart disease.
• Borderline high – a total cholesterol level of 200 mg/dL to 240 mg/dL is at fair risk of having heart disease. Your doctor may decide to give you have a lipid profile in order to determine which cholesterol level is high.
• High Risk – a 240 mg/dL cholesterol level is considered to be at high risk of heart disease. Expect a lipid profiling if your cholesterol level is this high. It is more likely that you will be given a cholesterol lowering medication along with a low cholesterol diet.

Cholesterol tests are usually given when the individual is healthy because the blood cholesterol level of an individual who has an acute illness, (after a heart attack or after surgery or accident) is likely to be low. Individuals are advised to wait at least six weeks after any illness before taking cholesterol tests. Pregnant women are also advised to wait six weeks before having their cholesterol level measured.

A Brief Explanation of Cholesterol Ratios:

Cholesterol ratios consist of total cholesterol. Total cholesterol includes low level lipoprotein cholesterol levels (LDL cholesterol), triglycerides and high density lipoprotein cholesterol level (HDL cholesterol).

Cholesterol is measured by milligrams of cholesterol per deciliter of blood (mg/dL). Usually, only the total cholesterol amount is given when a person is tested for cholesterol. Sometimes you are given the HDL cholesterol and the total cholesterol results.

The desirable total cholesterol level is 200mg/dL and the beneficial amount of HDL is more than 40mg/dL.

There are two important cholesterol ratios. These they are LDL/HDL cholesterol ratios and total cholesterol/HDL cholesterol ratios.

In the latter cholesterol ratios, your cholesterol result is given by the total cholesterol divided by the HDL cholesterol. According to the American Heart Association, the desirable amount should be below 5:1 with the optimal amount of 3.5:1 or 3.5 to 1.

The LDL/HDL is done by dividing LDL cholesterol by the HDL cholesterol. The desirable amount in this ratio should be 3.5 below. The American Heart Association recommended that physicians must use complete numbers for total cholesterol/HDL cholesterol in determining the appropriate treatment.

A normal cholesterol level as suggested by the National Institute of Health:

• total cholesterol – 200mg/dL
• LDL – 100mg/dL
• HDL (man) – 40mg/dL above
• HDL (woman) – 50mg/dL above
• Triglycerides – 150mg/dL

It is important to remember to fast the night before, prior to taking a lipid profile test (a test that profiles the HDL cholesterol, triglycerides and total cholesterol) the next day.

One of the best things that you can to do lower cholesterol is to quit smoking and decrease the amount of fatty foods in your diet. For most people, the best way to lower cholesterol is to reduce their intake of saturated fats and to increase physical activity.

The Hypercet Blood Pressure Formula is a proprietary blend of five essential elements for healthy blood pressure. The Hypercet Cholesterol Formula is designed to help maintain healthy cholesterol levels and to assist normal body functions for optimum health. “Often the only treatment needed to lower cholesterol is thyroid medication.

Diet and exercise are imperative

To lower cholesterol naturally, diet and exercise are imperative. Diets rich in beans, peas, rice bran, barley, oat bran, whole grains, citrus fruits and apple pulp can help lower cholesterol levels, especially when additionally cutting back on animal products and fats. Diet can be a very effective tool for lowering blood pressure.

To keep your cholesterol low, your total fat intake shouldn’t be more than 25% to 33% of your diet –and most of those fats should be the good kind, like vegetable fats(mono unsaturated fats and polyunsaturated fats), and omega-3 fatty acids, foundmostly in fish. He began including steel-cut oatmeal, eggplant, roasted soybeans, whole-wheat pasta and Brussels sprouts in his diet. Even better, the story includes a link to two favorite recipes from his cholesterol-lowering diet.

Exercise decreases the bad LDL-cholesterol

Surely, you’ve already asked you these questions: Those higher cholesterol is treating with herbs, good food, exercises or drugs. Exercise decreases the bad LDL-cholesterol and increases the”good” HDL-cholesterol.

Exercise, not smoking and a high-fiber diet low in cholesterol and fat will improve your cholesterol count. Exercise itself doesn’t directly lower cholesterol, but will strengthen the heart and entire circulatory system. Exercise can apparently help keep a fat person healthy and maintain lower cholesterol levels, keep bad cholesterol levels down, without massive dietary changes, nor having to lose weight.

Simply out of habit, not caring what foods to eat that lower your cholesterol and not giving your body regular easy-going exercises, the accumulation reaches a point where undesirable consequences as symptoms begin to show up.

Healthy Lifestyle

Healthy lifestyle and diet is key to prevention of high cholesterol levels. Lower cholesterol is important to living a long and healthy life, one that is free from heart disease or stroke. You should also maintain a healthy lifestyle through diet, exercise, and weight maintenance.

As you know, there are populations that have lived healthy lives on all meat diets and populations that have lived healthy lives on all vegetable diets. Some people’s bodies are simply genetically predisposed to make a lot of cholesterol; it doesn’t matter whether they eat a perfect diet or are a healthy weight.

Just as you wouldn’t bet all your money on a single stock, Jenkins says you shouldn’t bet your health on a single kind of healthy food.

Natural way to lower cholesterol

Natural way to lower cholesterol is to have low cholesterol diet and exercise regularly. Or you can choose a natural means where the only side effect is better health. And since your cholesterol naturally rises as you get older, it seems to sneak up on you without warning.

The good news is, you can lower you cholesterol naturally by taking responsibility over your body and your health and award yourself with a complete lifestyle makeover. There are natural herbs, vitamins and minerals that can help lower LDL cholesterol and raise HDL cholesterol in the body.

Supplements lower cholesterol naturally

Research also shows that improvement results can be dramatic if you were to strongly consider the combined use of regular exercises and the regular use of nutritional supplements, which are clinically proven to lower cholesterol naturally with no side effects.

Remember that the approach with drugs and / or dietary supplements is to supplement and not to replace a healthy diet and exercise. The most effective way to lower cholesterol when all of this does not work sufficiently, is with drugs and / or herbal dietary supplements. However, there are quite a number of supplements that have been clinically proven to lower cholesterol.

Conclusion

To lower cholesterol is one of your greatest health challenges, cholesterol induced strokes are not a pretty sight. A significant way to lower cholesterol is to include adequate amounts of healthy fiber in your diet.

Another important element to a persons lifestyle that can be enhanced when wondering how to lower cholesterol is by establishing an exercise program or increasing an exercise program. As such one way to lower cholesterol is to avoid foods that contain high cholesterol or at least minimize their consumption, that is animal and dairy products. The most popular and well known food that can actually lower cholesterol is eating adequate amounts of oatmeal every day.
To Find Out More…

Cholesterol is more abundant in tissues which either synthesize more or have more abundant densely-packed membranes, for example, the liver, spinal cord and brain.
The liver is the main processing center for cholesterol. When we eat animal fats, the liver returns the cholesterol it can not use to our bloodstream and when there is too much cholesterol circulating in our bloodstream, it can build up into fatty deposits. These deposits cause the arteries to narrow and can eventually block the arteries completely, leading to heart disease and stroke.

Cholesterol is produced by the liver and it is also made by most cells in the body. It is carried around in the blood by lipoproteins. We need blood cholesterol because the body uses it to build the structure of cell membranes, to produce hormones like testosterone, adrenaline and estrogen and to aid the metabolism.

Types of Cholesterol
There are two types of cholesterol, good and bad, the difference between them is:

• Low density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol called the bad cholesterol because it goes into the bloodstream and clogs up your arteries.
• High density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol called the good cholesterol because it helps to take the bad cholesterol out of the bloodstream.

Cholesterol is transported towards peripheral tissues by the lipoproteins chylomicrons, very low density lipoproteins (VLDL) and low-density lipoproteins (LDL).
Risks associated with high triglycerides.

According to the lipid hypothesis, abnormally high cholesterol levels (hypercholesterolemia), or more correctly, higher concentrations of LDL and lower concentrations of functional HDL are strongly associated with cardiovascular disease because these promote atheroma development in arteries (atherosclerosis). High cholesterol has also been linked to diabetes and high blood pressure.

Both heredity and diet have a significant influence on a person’s LDL, HDL and total cholesterol levels. Evidence strongly indicates that high cholesterol levels can cause narrowing of the arteries (atherosclerosis), heart attacks, and strokes.

Cholesterol in the bile can crystallize to form gall stones that may block the bile ducts. Cholesterol count also rises during pregnancy.

However, in recent years, scientists have come to realise that to decide whether an individual’s cholesterol levels are dangerous, these levels need to be considered in the light of the person’s overall risk of heart disease.The higher the risk of heart disease (for example, a male smoker with high blood pressure and diabetes), the greater the need to get cholesterol levels down.

Cholesterol tests
Cholesterol testing is recommended as a screening test to be done on all adults at least once every five years.

Foods that contain cholesterol
The cholesterol in your diet comes mainly from the saturated fats found in animal products. All foods from animals contain some cholesterol. Foods from plants do not contain cholesterol. Other sources of dietary cholesterol are full fat dairy foods, eggs and some seafood.

Safe blood cholesterol levels
Health authorities recommend that cholesterol levels should be no higher than 5.5mmols per liter. Approximately 50 per cent of adult Australians have a blood cholesterol level above 5mmols per liter. This makes high blood cholesterol a major health concern in Australia.

How to lower high cholesterol
The best way to maintain healthy levels of cholesterol in your diet is to limit foods high in saturated fats. Try to avoid: Fatty meats , full fat dairy products, processed meats like salami and sausages, snack foods like chips, most takeaway foods, especially deep fried foods, cakes, biscuits and pastries.

However the most important thing you can do to reduce your cholesterol level is to maintain a healthy lifestyle. You should try to:

• Limit the amount of cholesterol-rich foods you eat.
• Increase the amount and variety of fresh fruit, vegetables and wholegrain foods you have each day.
• Choose low or reduced fat milk, yoghurt and other dairy products or have added calcium soy drinks.
• Choose lean meat (meat trimmed of fat or labeled as heart smart).
• Limit fatty meats, including sausages and salami, and choose leaner sandwich meats like turkey breast or cooked lean chicken.
• Have fish (fresh or canned) at least twice a week. Replace butter and dairy blends with polyunsaturated margarines.
• Include foods in your diet that are rich in soluble fiber and healthy fats, such as nuts, legumes and seeds.
• Limit cheese and ice cream to twice a week

Some studies have suggested that eating oats and legumes may lower LDL cholesterol. Food components like saponins (found in chickpeas, alfalfa sprouts and other foods) and sulphur compounds (like allicin found in garlic and onions) may also have a positive effect on cholesterol levels.

Plant sterols can lower cholesterol levels,these are found naturally in plant foods including sunflower and canola seeds, vegetable oils and (in smaller amounts) in nuts, legumes, cereals, fruit and vegetables. Some margarine has concentrated plant sterols added to it. Plant sterol enriched margarines may help to lower LDL cholesterol.

Treatment for high cholesterol
Treatment of high cholesterol is aimed at lowering the low-density lipoproteins (LDL) or bad cholesterol, lowering triglyceride levels, and increasing the high-density lipoproteins (HDL) or good cholesterol.

Treatment will be most effective if it also includes appropriate diet, weight loss (if necessary) and physical activity.

The first steps in treating high cholesterol levels are: Regular physical activity and healthy eating.

There are also some foods that may help to lower cholesterol levels, particularly garlic, soya, oats, corn and selenium-enriched cereals.

Cholesterol-lowering foods are not suitable for children under five years or for pregnant or breastfeeding mothers.

Medication :Statin drugs work by interfering with the cholesterol-producing mechanisms of the liver and by increasing the capacity of the liver to remove cholesterol from circulating blood. Statins can lower LDL cholesterol by as much as 60 percent, depending on the drug and dosage.

The study found that naringenin, an ingredient found in citrus fruits aids the liver to burn the extra fat rather than storing it.

The study and its findings
Scientists from the Robarts Research Institute, at the University of Western Ontario divided the mice into two groups. Both groups were given the same high-fat diet but the food of one group was fortified with naringenin.

The researchers observed that the mice in the non-naringenin group became obese and developed high cholesterol levels. Also their insulin resistance increased which can lead to complications like heart disease and diabetes.

On the other hand the mice treated with naringenin did not suffer from any of the above symptoms. The ingredient naringenin corrected the triglyceride and cholesterol levels in rodents and prevented the development of insulin resistance, completely normalizing glucose metabolism in them.

“The marked obesity that develops in these mice was completely prevented by naringenin,” said lead researcher, Professor Murray Huff.

“What was unique about the study was that the effects were independent of caloric intake, meaning the mice ate exactly the same amount of food and the same amount of fat. There was no suppression of appetite or decreased food intake, which are often the basis of strategies to reduce weight gain and its metabolic consequences.”

More studies about preventive properties of Grape fruit
Grapefruit has long been linked with weight loss. However, the researchers admitted that the levels of naringenin used in the study were at higher levels than found naturally in the fruit. Hence, simply eating grapefruit will not reproduce the desired effect.

“We are examining the pharmacological properties of naringenin,” explains Huff. “The next step is to find out if naringenin prevents heart disease in animal models and to explore the feasibility of clinical trials to determine its safety and efficacy in humans,” he added.

While, this study investigated naringenin’s preventative properties, the researchers are now hoping to carry out further research to discover whether naringenin can be safely and effectively used in humans to combat obesity and diabetes.

The research was funded primarily by the Heart and Stroke Foundation of Ontario, and has been published online in the journal Diabetes.

In only one month, volunteers following the plan reduced their cholesterol levels by 15 percent to 20 percent and dropped blood pressure 2 points. That’s a big, fast change.

Most studies of diet and heart disease show it takes more time, up to 12 weeks, to see the full effect on cholesterol and blood pressure.

And unlike the traditional meat-based Atkins diet, which increased dangerous LDL cholesterol in previous studies, the Eco-Atkins diet reduced LDL.

The Eco-Atkins diet scores better from an environmental perspective, too. High-protein diets emphasizing red meat, dairy and eggs are not environmentally friendly, said Dr. David Jenkins, a physician at St. Michael’s Hospital and University of Toronto in Canada and one of the researchers.

That’s because it takes more energy and produces more greenhouse gases to raise beef and poultry than it does to grow grains, beans, fruits or vegetables.

A Vegan Twist
Jenkins and colleagues recruited 50 overweight, middle-aged people from Toronto for their study. Half the volunteers received the Eco-Atkins diet: ready-made meals of low-carbohydrate, high-protein foods.

The twist: the meals were strictly vegan – no meat, poultry, fish or dairy products. (The original Atkins was low-carb and high-protein, but with lots of meat.)

If a vegan diet sounds extreme to you, keep reading. There are simple ways to incorporate some vegan meals into your diet, and non-vegan vegetarian meals can be helpful, too.

Jenkins and his colleagues picked a vegan diet because they thought it “would be the most ecologically, environmentally and other-species friendly diet that we could mount,” Jenkins said.

“But we didn’t set it up against a diet that was ecologically catastrophic,” such as the traditional Atkins diet.

Instead, the remaining volunteers followed a vegetarian diet including low-fat dairy products and egg substitutes so it would be a fair match, equally low in cholesterol as the Eco-Atkins diet.

Both groups of volunteers reported feeling satisfied and full, although they ate only 1,500 calories a day and lost about 8 pounds in the month.

As expected with any weight loss experience, both groups had improvements in cholesterol and blood pressure. But the Eco-Atkins group had bigger changes–an 8 percent greater drop in cholesterol.

As a dietitian, I don’t recommend vegan diets for everyone. Without serious planning and dedication, vegan plans can be inadequate. However, we can all reap benefits from moving toward a more plant-based diet.

Even having a few vegan meals a week can be helpful. Vegan foods are useful because they have less artery-clogging fats than meats. And they can be simple to prepare–bet you didn’t realize a peanut butter sandwich was vegan!

Lots of Fiber
The eating plans in the study were very different. The Eco-Atkins diet provided only 130 grams of carbohydrates per day, the minimum level currently recommended by scientists.

It eliminated common starchy foods such as baked goods, potatoes and rice. Instead of wheat bread, the plan included flour-less high-protein bread made from ground almonds, ground hazelnuts and wheat gluten.

Eco-Atkins menus emphasized foods rich in soluble fiber, which is known to lower cholesterol. Such foods include oats, barley, okra and eggplant, along with other fruits and vegetables.

The plan also included wheat protein, known as seitan, and soy protein in veggie burgers, veggie bacon, veggie deli slices, veggie breakfast sausages, tofu and soy drinks.

Also, the eco-friendly plan featured heart-healthy fats, such as that found in almonds, cashews, macadamia nuts, pecans, pistachios, vegetable oils and avocados.

To make up for nutrients found in dairy products not allowed on the Eco-Atkins diet, people received supplements of vitamin B-12, vitamin D, calcium and magnesium.

Like the Eco-Atkins plan, the comparison plan – a more traditional vegetarian diet–was meat-free. But it included low-fat milk, yogurt and cheese, as well as egg whites. The more traditional diet had twice as many carbohydrates as the high-protein Eco-Atkins diet.

Not All-or-Nothing
Even if the Eco-Atkins plan is too dramatic a change for most people, Jenkins encourages people to move toward a more plant-based diet.

You don’t have to take an all-or-nothing approach.

As a dietitian, I agree that switching to plant proteins like beans, peas and lentils instead of meat is better for your heart and your waistline. Legumes are lower in calories and saturated fat than meat and better for the environment. You might start by eating one vegetarian meal a week.

Jenkins’ crew used many vegetarian versions of meat. If you don’t enjoy faux foods or feel they are too costly, try traditional vegetarian treats.

Some of my favorites are:

• Cajun red beans and rice
• Bean chili with corn bread
• Split-pea soup with whole-grain crackers
• Curried lentils with vegetables and rice
• Take-out Chinese bean curd with broccoli, rice and garlic sauce.

Beans do have more carbohydrates than the modern meat substitutes used in the Eco-Atkins plan. However, beans are still a good source of protein, and arguably even more eco-friendly because they are less processed.

The list of yummy vegetarian foods is nearly endless.

Jennifer Motl welcomes reader questions via her Web site, brighteating.com, or mailed to Nutrition, The Free Lance-Star, 616 Amelia St., Fredericksburg, Va. 22401.

Diabetes patients with elevated levels of triglyceride fats are at increased risk of developing a serious complication called neuropathy — the loss or damage of nerves that results in numbness, tingling and pain in the hands, arms, legs and feet, researchers say.

A study by U.S. researchers indicates that doctors need to monitor diabetes patients’ blood fat levels as well as their blood sugar levels. They noted a simple blood test for triglycerides can help doctors identify patients most at risk for neuropathy.

“In our study, elevated serum triglycerides were the most accurate at predicting nerve fiber loss, compared to all other measures,” study co-author Kelli A. Sullivan, an assistant research professor in neurology at the University of Michigan Medical School, said in a university news release.

The study included 427 diabetes patients with neuropathy. Those with elevated levels of triglycerides were significantly more likely to experience worsening neuropathy over one year. Other factors, including blood glucose levels, weren’t significant.

The findings appear online and in the July print issue of the journal Diabetes.

“These results set the stage for clinicians to be able to address lowering lipid counts with their diabetes patients with neuropathy as vigilantly as they pursue glucose control,” study senior author Dr. Eva L. Feldman, a professor of neurology at the University of Michigan Medical School, said in the news release.

“Aggressive treatment can be very beneficial to patients in terms of their neuropathy,” Feldman said. Blood triglyceride levels can be reduced using the same measures used to lower cholesterol levels — regular exercise and reducing consumption of harmful fats.

Of the 23 million people with diabetes in the United States, about 60 percent are affected by diabetic neuropathy, according to background information in the study.

Living with Type II Diabetes?