Cholesterol Obesity and Heart Attack, How to Treat and prevent them
Cholesterol Obesity and Heart Attack, How to Treat and prevent them
Having lower cholesterol is very
important and by now we all know this. Age is not a factor when it comes to
cholesterol as we can all have a problem here. It is also a fact that you can
increase your chances of having a heart attack or stroke if your cholesterol is
bad.
In order to understand what this means
and how to achieve it, we all need to understand a few of the key concepts and terms
first. We will start with this.
Cholesterol
is basically just a fat-like substance that is found throughout the body.
The next thing is to know how it gets
there. This is easy, you get your cholesterol through the body itself or in the
foods we eat and put into it. You need to know that too much of it, however, is
not healthy for the body. When your cholesterol is too high you will end up
with clogged our arteries, block our hearts, and actually threaten to end our
lives. Most of us have bad cholesterol cause we all love bacon and fatty foods.
There are two kinds of cholesterol
that we have, which may be confusing at first. High density lipoprotein is one of them, and it is
commonly known as HDL which actually needs to be high as it protects the heart
from bad cholesterol. Low
density lipoproteins, or LDL, and are sometimes called the bad
cholesterol because it can clog arteries and kill us, is the other.
We have both kinds of cholesterol in
our bodies and we need them both. The balance between them is what gives us
general health.
Natural ways
to lower your Cholesterol
For those people who would prefer not
to take prescription drugs for lowering their cholesterol, there is a more
natural way. The alternative to using drugs is natural cholesterol reducers
which could also be found in many whole foods. Most of us now prefer to take
natural remedies such as herbs etc. today’s research show the effectiveness in getting
rid of the symptoms or in reducing your chances of having a heart disease.
Natural cholesterol reducers are
substances that help to lower cholesterol without having to have people tamper
with it first. This means that they were not created with the use of chemicals
or pesticides.
Food that
Lower Cholesterol
“We are what we eat”. How
true this saying is! The food we eat determines the cholesterol levels of our
body. High cholesterol levels can cause heart diseases and high blood pressure
as age progresses which can lead to paralysis or death in the patient. Unless
several important changes are made in the diet, high cholesterol levels can
steal entire lives.
These days, almost all of
the most popular foods stuffs contain large quantities of LDC known more
popularly as bad cholesterol. By substituting these with HDL widely known as “good
cholesterol” we can have a much healthier life. Given below are some of the
best ways to do this.
Breakfast is the most
important part of the day’s meal. Bread should be avoided and it should be replaced
by oatmeal. Doing this ensures that in just two weeks the cholesterol levels in
the body will be reduced by almost 20%. Making this a habit will greatly reduce
the cholesterol levels of the body. If the breakfast cannot contain oatmeal,
fruits such as apples should be had. Having two apples or twelve ounces of good
apple juice in a day can lower the chance of carious diseases of the heart by
almost 50%. Apples are easy to get in all supermarkets and can be had whenever
possible irrespective of the time of the day. It can be had as dessert or a snack
or even after having a light meal.
Making vegetables a part of lunch and dinner
is the most effective way to ensure a healthy diet.
Also red meat should be replaced with fish or
poultry. These food stuffs are healthier as they do not contain saturated fats.
People who love cooking can add ingredients such as garlic in their food.
Garlic has the property of declogging arteries thereby reducing the chances of
getting heart diseases. Beans and pork are good for health. A can of either can
greatly reduce risk of bad cholesterol as they contain fibers that are soluble
and can help in fighting bad cholesterol. Onions are not all
Food For People With High Cholesterol
Bad
cholesterol sticks to the body and refuses to let go. Efforts by the afflicted
ones to lower cholesterol levels can prove futile and can be very frustrating.
If only water could flush out all the bad cholesterol from the body! Then it
would not be such a big cause of worry as it is today. Bad cholesterol clogs
the veins. Even though they have a tiny diameter, this can cause a hindrance to
the smooth flow of blood which can even be fatal. It is a common misconception that
all cholesterol is bad for heath. Good cholesterol is important for all the
vital processes of the human body. The bad cholesterol is the one that clogs arteries.
However it takes many years of unchecked dietary habits that gradually leads up
to these levels of cholesterol that can be fatal.
Cholesterol
usually affects obese or overweight people. The factors that adversely affect
this are drugs, bad diets and hereditary traits. As a result, cholesterol in
people with normal weights is comparatively rarer, but not unheard of.
There is not
much information available about prevention of cholesterol these days. Most of
the available information only talks about reduction of cholesterol levels
after a person has been diagnosed clinically. Therefore personal diagnosis cannot
ensure a safer future when concerned with cholesterol. Maintaining a healthier
lifestyle is the most effective method in preventing various health disorders
to begin with. Although this is talked about all the time, carefully watching
over your food consumption is the most practical way of preventing bad health.
And one of the many ways to do this-avoid fat. On the other hand, various food
groups help in lowering of cholesterol levels. Such foodstuffs contain
antioxidants that help in preventing increase in bad cholesterol levels in the
body. These include: FIBERS including OATMEAL- This is a fiber of high nutritional
content with a capability of reducing cholesterol. However it lost its
popularity temporarily till 1997 when it was revived again by the Food and
Drug Administration
that combined with a good diet that is low in fat, it can prevent various heart
diseases. Other fibrous foods include legumes, rice, brewer's yeast, bran, wheat,
breads, beans and various other cereals that help in increasing the levels of
good cholesterol in the body.
FRUITS and VEGETABLES- These are full of vitamins and antioxidants
and are found at the top of the food pyramid. It is necessary that we eat lots
of these natural food than processed food. They cleanse the body and are
healthy as they do not contain any fats. Citrus fruits that contain vitamin C
should be particularly favored. The best medicine to combat free-radical elements
that cause various diseases is cucumber as it is rich in the anti-oxidant
vitamin E.
FISH- Fishes with white meat and tuna are
also a part of healthy diets as fishes contain lesser amounts of unsaturated
fats.
LEAN MEATS- extra lean beef, liver, turkey and
chicken without their skin is all fat free and are rich in proteins. Therefore
they are an integral part of healthy diets.
YOUGRT- It helps in digestion of food by
regulating the stomach acids. Hence it helps in reduction of cholesterol levels
and is also low in fat.
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