Cholesterol Solutions Today:The Good & The Bad

Filed under: Alternative therapies, Daily newsYou may have heard of red yeast rice as a simple way to lower your cholesterol. After all, that’s what some manufacturers want to believe. But don’t fall for it — it’s a scam. What’s more, many red yeast rice manufacturers have been spiking their product with statins to make them seem more effective. If you’re interested in lowering your cholesterol, there are better ways to do it than wasting your money — exercising and eating well will do more for your health than any so-called miracle cure will.Read | Permalink | Email this | Linking Blogs | Comments (Source: The Cardio Blog)

Brian Klepper How do you live a long life? Take a two-mile walk every morning before breakfast.Harry Truman33rd US President, who lived to 88DAWN, n. The time when men of reason go to bed. Certain old men prefer to rise at about that time, taking a cold bath and a long walk with an empty stomach, and otherwise mortifying the flesh. They then point with pride to these practices as the cause of their sturdy health and ripe years, the truth being that they are hearty and old, not because of their habits, but in spite of them. The reason we find only robust persons doing this thing is that it has killed all the others who have tried it.Ambrose Bierce, The Devil’s Dictionary  I started taking long walks with my close friend Bob thirty-five years ago when we were students in Holland. We would walk and discuss the things that young people ponder, passing time in the brisk beautiful outdoor landscape of Northern Europe. We always maintained a quick pace, but never minded the effort, because the activity was filled with ideas and always-inviting scenery.When I returned home, walking was a habit that stuck with me. When Bob and I lived in the same town, we’d get together regularly to walk the dogs. On my own, I found that I could go out for a stroll and think, chewing on whatever I was working on and, getting a little distance from it, find perspective. Elaine and I still walk, constantly, and that’s where we get some of our best talking in. Walking has been respite from the rush, a place to hash out conflicts or work out plans, a way to meditate and regain balance.When I left my post at the University of Florida about 20 years ago and returned home, I traded a landlocked town for the coast. As quickly as I could, I resettled within a few blocks of the beach in a small community on an island off Jacksonville, in Northeast Florida. Then, as now, I was literally within a five minute walk of a 300 foot wide, hard-packed, sugary white sand beach on the Atlantic, stretching for miles both north and south. In addition to the spectacular, always changing beauty of a vibrant seascape - birds, dolphins, turtle nests, fish and other sealife; the boats and ships just offshore; the surf rolling in and lapping the beach - it was perfect terrain for a habitual walker.Even so, as easily accessible as it is, and though I know lots of people long for just this sort of environment, there have been periods when I lost my discipline, when I took the opportunity for granted and somehow just didn’t get around to it.Then came the moment 5 years ago when I unexpectedly had open heart surgery, a 5 vessel CABG, the result of lousy genes and the gradual relentless buildup of plaque choking off my blood vessels. During the procedure they collapsed and then re-inflated my lungs, and I knew it would take work to ameliorate my shortness of breath. I started walking again immediately, through the halls, on the second day in the hospital following my surgery, and by the time I left 3 days later I was up to walking more than a mile a day.I continued when I returned home and worked through recovery, and though increasing my distance went slowly, I kept at it. During a follow-up with my surgeon, he commented, "The best thing you can become is a walking fool. It’s low impact, steady and its good for you in all kinds of ways, especially with what you’re up against."And then, again, time passed and I got comfortable and distracted. I skipped my walks and then they trickled away, until I was just walking weekends again. I told myself that I was really in OK shape, but the truth was that I put on weight and that I had slipped into a malaise.Recently, I had a discussion with a good friend, a preventive cardiologist, who gave it to me straight. I had shared the numbers from my last blood panel. "Look," he said, "you’re not taking this seriously. Unless you get your LDLs (the bad cholesterol) down below 60,  you’re going to continue laying down plaque, and the risk increases. If you’re interested in doing what you can do, you need to get religion on this. Get lean. Eat carefully and ramp up your exercise." And so I have.This isn’t just theory. Below is a picture from the REVERSAL Trial, led by Steven Nissen MD, chief of Cardiology at Cleveland Clinic. It clearly shows the before and after effects of managing LDL to below 60. After 18 months of the reduced LDLs, there’s been a significant opening of the vessel. This is what I’m shooting for.So we’ve cut out most breads and sweets. Cookies are out. Our diet is mostly fruits, veggies and fish. Once you get your head around it, it makes sense and you gradually lose the longing for the comfort foods: a milk shake, macaroni and cheese, or a fried fish sandwich.And then there’s the walking. It’s a flat 3 miles, 50 minutes door-to-door, down to the lifeguard station on the beach and back, walking fast. Right now, in the NE Florida swelter, I’m soaked through when I return. I do this twice a day. On my suburban beach, around 6AM, there are 200 people out there walking before work. After work, you see  a lot of them again.  An embarrassing quantity of pounds has melted off. I’m becoming leaner and stronger than I’ve been in years. The next blood panel will tell. When I’m tempted by some forbidden food, I think of 60 and my will to shrink the plaque that’s strangling my vessels. And I walk. (Source: The Doctor Weighs In)

Filed under: PreventionSeptember is National Cholesterol Education Month, and everybody should really take advantage of the opportunity to get educated. For 2007 the theme is “Know your cholesterol numbers-Know your risk-Give yourself some TLC,” which is very appropriate considering many Americans (women especially) don’t know their own cholesterol counts. Finding out your numbers is step #1, and making a commitment to learn some new healthier habits is step #2. Click here for an online booklet from the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Association.Read | Permalink | Email this | Linking Blogs | Comments (Source: The Cardio Blog)

Filed under: Diet, NutritionLet’s face it, fiber isn’t exactly the most interesting part of your diet. Rarely do we talk about it, and even more rarely do we take it into account when planning our meals. Generally speaking, the only people who tend to pay attention to fiber are the people who are in greater need of a diet rich in it. And, again, those people don’t exactly like to talk about that, either. As a result, fiber sort of remains the unspoken and oft misunderstood part of our diet. But, make no mistake, it is an extremely important part. Here’s why.
More or less, fiber is the mostly carbohydrate constituent of plants that the human body can’t digest. There are two primary types of fiber: soluble and insoluble. The latter passes from one end of the digestive tract to the other virtually unchanged. Cereals, vegetables, grains, and seeds are usually comprised of more insoluble fiber than soluble fiber. As for the former, soluble fiber differs from its counterpart by encouraging the growth of healthy bacteria in the body, ultimately assisting with the digestive process. More commonly found in fruits, oats, barley, beans and peas, soluble fiber dissolves in water and consists of pectin, gums and mucilage (hmm…that word seems somewhat familiar).
There are many health benefits to be gained from eating an adequate amount of fiber in your diet. Some of them include:
Cholesterol Reduction. By trapping bile acids that would otherwise be absorbed and converted into cholesterol, fiber can help reduce cholesterol and triglycerides.
Improved Protein Absorption. Eating foods high in fiber while eating foods high in protein will slow down the breakdown of that protein, thereby allowing for greater absorption.
Better Colon Function. This one you are likely aware of already. I’ll leave it at that.
Prevents Body-Fat Storage. Soluble fiber helps the body use carbs for glycogen synthesis and energy production, rather than storing them as fats. Also, just as fiber slows down the body’s processing of proteins, fiber can slow down how fast your body metabolizes carbs. For you, this means that your insulin levels will not spike as a result of eating a high-carb food, which is yet another way to help prevent body fat storage.Read | Permalink | Email this | Linking Blogs | Comments (Source: The Cardio Blog)

Filed under: Women Heart HealthHere are some scary statistics for you, especially considering that heart disease is the #1 killer of women:

Only 1/3 of women know their current cholesterol levels
Twice as many women know what they weighed in high school than know their current cholesterol levels

9 out of 10 women are aware that high cholesterol can cause build-up of plaque in the arteries, so what’s the deal? Why don’t women seem to care or take their cholesterol seriously? Do you know what you weighed in high school? Do you know what your cholesterol is? For me I admit it’s yes and no. And yeah, there’s something wrong with this picture.Read | Permalink | Email this | Linking Blogs | Comments (Source: The Cardio Blog)

Filed under: Women Heart Health, Men Heart Health, Aging Heart HealthThe list of health benefits of Omega-3 fatty acids seemingly grows every day. Among the more well-known positive effects this fatty acid has on the body is that has been shown to reduce the risk of heart attack by 36 percent when it is consumed at least once or twice a week. Foods that are high in Omega-3s — such as salmon, brown rice, and olive oil — can also help to lower your LDL (”bad”) cholesterol. But, inasmuch as many of us know this by now, what we don’t know is how this actually takes place. What is cholesterol? And how does it effect our bodies? Now I’m not a doctor, and I’m definitely not a scientist, but I am curious — so I looked it up.
Cholesterol is made by the liver. Just about every animal that is eaten for food produces cholesterol in this manner. After it’s produced in your own body, or absorbed from the food you eat, it’s then carried through the bloodstream by particles known as lipoproteins. These particles are also produced in the liver, so it kind of works out quite nicely in that way. Anyway, from these lipoproteins are made up of fat and protein. However, what they contain more of determines if they are “bad” or “good.” If they contain a higher proportion of fat, they can stick to your blood vessel walls as they speed through your veins and arteries. Over time, this accumulates and forms hardened plaque, thus reducing the flow of blood to your heart — and hence the “bad” label. On the other hand, lipoproteins that contain a higher proportion of protein serve a different and much healthier function. Their main task is to carry cholesterol away from your heart and out of the body. The higher your levels of this “good” lipoproteins, the lower your risk of dying from a heart attack.
That’s just about the best way I can explain it. Not exactly ready for the New England Journal of Medicine, but not bad for a blog post, if I say so myself.
Read | Permalink | Email this | Linking Blogs | Comments (Source: The Cardio Blog)

Sub-standard housing more than doubles diabetes risk, a team of U.S. researchers found, but they are not exactly sure why.
Are you kidding me? Does anyone else think that the results of this study are self explanatory? Sub-standard housing usually means government assisted or “section 8″ housing, right? Well, the persons that qualify for this assistance have economical challenges that others do not have.
Understand this, in no way am I passing judgment or “putting” anyone down. Heck, my kids public school is Title One, but why would scientists be puzzled at the findings of something so obvious. Low income areas are also linked to higher blood pressure, higher cholesterol, more heart attacks and obesity.
Healthy food is expensive and pre-packaged or less nutritious choices are not. So yes, those that are on a very tight budget and live in sub-standard neighborhoods are concerned with putting food on the table, not necessarily what it is but that it is there. And I see nothing wrong with that, it is allocation of the funds that they have!
But for a group of US researchers to say, “and they don’t know why”… I mean come on people!
via Science Daily
Share This (Source: Diabetes Notes)

Filed under: Type 2, Services, CareThe Chicago-Sun Times just ran a piece about area dentists who are doing their bit for type 2 diabetes prevention. These docs are screening all patients with gum disease for high blood sugar. They hope this will help with early detection, since gum disease is a risk factor for diabetes. (In fact, gum disease is a risk factor for tons of health issues, running the gamut from minor to life-threatening.)The paper profiles, among others, dentist Dr. Ronald Schefdore. Whenever Schefdore gets patients coming in with gum disease, he automatically gives them blood tests that measure cholesterol and blood sugar levels, as well as inflammation. Schefdore describes a success story involving one patient who, thanks to the tests, got an early diagnosis of pre-diabetic symptoms and now, with the help of his PCP, has his blood sugar back under control. Schfdore has also trained about five hundred other dentists (wow) how to collect blood samples using the finger-prick method. “If every dentist practiced this way,” he comments, “we could improve the health of the world overnight.”This is preventive care in action. People like this are raising the bar for everyone. Cheers!Read | Permalink | Email this | Linking Blogs | Comments (Source: The Diabetes Blog)

Filed under: Diets, Nutrition, Recipe Healthy LivingHigh in protein and low in fat and cholesterol, this healthy recipe is one worth trying. It’s easy too. I love easy.Black Bean Chili8 ounces lean ground turkey1 small onion, chopped2 teaspoons chili powder2 cans black beans1 can diced tomatoes with green chilies1 cup waterIn a large nonstick saucepan, cook lean meat and onion until meat is browned and onion is tender, about 10 minutes. Stir in chili powder and cook one minute. Stir in cans of beans, tomatoes, and water. Heat to boiling over high heat. Then reduce to low heat and let simmer for 15 minutes. Stir occasionally. Makes five cups.Permalink | Email this | Linking Blogs | Comments (Source: The Cancer Blog)

Do you take medication to help raise your “good” cholesterol, better known as HDL? New research warns that this could actually be harmful to you. The Cleveland Clinic has concluded that raising HDL is actually not a matter of quantity but quality.
The authors concluded that while efforts to lower low-density lipoprotein (LDL or “bad cholesterol”) “have consistently reduced cardiovascular disease risk, HDL-based approaches are much more complex and sometimes disappointing.” As a result, “the primary focus should be on LDL,” said review co-author Mehdi Shishehbor, D.O., of the Cleveland Clinic.
Yes, it is true that HDL aids in moving fat molecules out of the arteries and towards the liver, but when HDL is large in nature, that helpful cholesterol can cause inflammation and blockages, which in turn can prove to be harmful!
Bottom line… be aware of the what if’s. Not all research is black and white and this is definitely a gray area. Be cautious when taking any prescription medication. Have you had a negative experience with this type of medication? Or have you had a positive response? Research is helpful, but patient experiences are truly first hand.
via Science daily
Share This (Source: A Hearty Life)