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Many people find out that they have high cholesterol and are shocked!
Recently, there has been much concern on keeping the cholesterol numbers good so that you can prevent yourself from having a heart attack, stroke or any number of ailments including diabetes, metabolic syndrome and other disorders such as peripheral vascular disease.
The bad guy of the cholesterol world is LDL -cholesterol. This type of cholesterol is transported in the blood by lipoproteins. This cholesterol transported by low-density lipoproteins is bad for you. The cholesterol that is transported by high-density proteins HDL, is good for you.
When you have too much LDL moving around in your blood, it is like a layer of gooey stuff inside your blood vessels. This is the stuff that can clog the arteries, especially the small vessels that deliver blood to your heart.
The more plaque that forms- the more the risk of having a heart attack. Elevated LDL is considered a good predictor of a heart attack.
How Can you help keep your cholesterol healthy? You are what you eat.
According to author Stephanie Kong in her book: A Minute For Your Health, you can control your HDL and LDL levels by paying closer attention to the fats you take into your body.
Here are the 3 types of fats that you need to focus on:
1. Saturated fats- or the bad fats. These come from animals ( lard), coconut and palm oils. Saturated fat is hard at room temperature and can stimulate your liver to make more LDL cholesterol
2. Polyunsaturated Fats- or good fats: They do not harden at room temperature. They include safflower, sunflower, corn, soybean and cottonseed oils. When we begin to substitute these fats in the diet, the liver can make less LDL cholesterol.
3. Monounsaturated Fats: These are the best fats to use, and they include olive oil, peanut and canola oils. They should also be purchased as “cold pressed” oils for your best option. Oils in this category are good because when we substitute them for saturated fats, the will increase the good cholesterol (HDL)
Omega-3 fatty acids that come from salmon, sardines, tuna and other fatty fish actually lower total cholesterol in the body and help to prevent heart attacks and strokes.
Taken in part for :Kong, S. ( 2003) A Minute For Your Health. The ABCs for Improved Health and Longevity. Roscoe, Ill., Hilton Publications.
The article “Keeping your cholesterol numbers good!” Great Article!! Along with many others. I hard a hard time choosing which one to comment on first this one or Good Health but I chose this one and I will explain why. When Reading this article it brought tears to my eyes because my sister has been told several times that she as at high risk of having a heart attack, and could even die because one her cholesterol is high some what better now with medication but two they tell her if she does not do something about her weight she could die. She finally just recently confided in me and told me that. I told her I want to help her. I have been trying to find nutrition plans for her.
Hi Teresa, I am so glad you can talk about your sister. There are so very many people out there that have problems with cholesterol. There is research that a diet high in fiber can help with cholesterol and diabetes. That may be just what she needs. If you increase your fiber, start exercising and choose low fat, low cholesterol foods, you can change those numbers. Good posting!