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Your Guardian Of Good Health, HDL Cholesterol
Posted by Ned Dagostino at Jan 31st, 2009 in Cholesterol
Cholesterol is a vital element for tissue growth, repair and hence the health of your body. Cholesterol comes in a variety of combinations. For the sake of simplicity, we’ll get to know the basics of the two which are critical for our health. These are HDL cholesterol and LDL cholesterol. HDL stands for “high density lipoprotein” and LDL stands for “low density lipoprotein”. The HDL cholesterol combination is good for the body, whereas the LDL cholesterol has a negative effect on our health. The body has its own mechanism to regulate the quantities of these two cholesterol combinations for optimum health. The balance of these two types of cholesterol is vital for our health, and directly affects our chances of suffering from heart disease.
In layman terms, the HDL cholesterol sweeps away the unhealthy LDL cholesterol. Hence we should strive to keep up the level of HDL cholesterol to maintain our health.
Cholesterol levels can be controlled using chemical intervention in the form of medicines. This is an emergency solution, not a long term solution. Natural, holistic therapies are preferred for cholesterol control. Cardiovascular exercise is the prime example of such therapy. This exercise improves the blood circulation. The improved blood circulation means firstly, more health and secondly, better elimination of harmful wastes like LDL cholesterol.
The American Heart Association recommends a daily dose of thirty minutes of cardiovascular exercise to control bad cholesterol. A very different opinion is voiced by Dr. Joseph Mercola. He says that the dose recommended by the AHA is insufficient to control bad cholesterol. Fundamental to his opinion is the mode of exercise, not its duration. Walking in the park for an hour will not get the heart pumping strongly enough to flush out the bad cholesterol. Exercise must make you ‘exert’ yourself; it must leave you near enough to exhaustion, that you feel breathless. He does issue 3 caveats to go along with this: don’t overdo it, each person has to determine his own exertion point to avoid collapsing and complicating an already bad situation, and this must be done under supervision. He agrees with the AHA that cardiovascular exercise must be done regularly everyday for it to be effective to any significant degree.
To help your HDL cholesterol to remain at a healthy level, you should not have any food which contains heavy amounts of LDL cholesterol. Saturated fats as food items or as cooking medium are notorious in this regard. Omega-3 and mono-unsaturated oils and fats are good for HDL cholesterol.
New research has revealed the beneficial effect of omega-3 fats on HDL cholesterol. Fish are rich in omega-3 fats, notably salmon and tuna. You may also get your regular supply of omega-3 fats from formulated supplements. Margarine is bad for your HDL cholesterol, as are processed foods, and ones that are sugary and creamy. Regular cardiovascular exercise and dietary control will help your HDL cholesterol to regain the upper hand over LDL cholesterol.
Dietary watch apart, the other lifestyle activities that can affect your HDL cholesterol are smoking and obesity. Stop smoking. Smoking decreases the HDL cholesterol in the blood. Obesity raises the LDL cholesterol level in the blood. Obesity due to incorrect dietary habits can be taken care of by following the dietary watch advised above. Obesity due to a sedentary lifestyle can be controlled by regular resistance exercises such as those that you get in a fitness center.
One more question on the subject of lifestyle: Are you a bundle of nerves? If yes, then you must get a hold of yourself immediately. Stress can trigger your LDL cholesterol to shoot through the roof and that can mean an imminent heart attack or stroke! Implement stress management techniques. It’s very simple really, really! Be prepared for the stress attack before it attacks. When you see Bob walking in, you psyche yourself into playing it cool. After Bob plays himself out, you’ll find that you’re not the one who’s stressed, Bob is!
Your primer for healthy HDL cholesterol levels reads like this: A is for cardiovascular exercise, B is for dietary control, and C is for modifying your lifestyle. With healthy HDL cholesterol coursing through your body you can count on a healthy life free of heart disease.
Tags: Cholesterol
High-deductible health plans are increasingly used by healthy people who are unlikely to incur high medical expenses. But they also end up enrolling many low-income, vulnerable families, finds a study of Massachusetts families from Children’s Hospital Boston and Harvard Medical School’s Department of Ambulatory Care and Prevention (DACP). The study appears in the April issue of the journal Pediatrics.
We need to come to grips with the reality that much of the suburban church has subconsciously worked hard for a good long time to create boundaries that insulate and isolate themselves from the problems that exist in urban settings.
For example, In 1954 when the school desegregation act was passed ‘white flight’ was born with an entire highway system emerging that all but sealed the fate of those left behind in the cities without a strong infrastructure. Churches followed suit and ‘new houses of worship’ became the norm.
And just as Joel pointed out ‘brick and mortar’ became the investment of choice in these settings.
Over time ‘out of sight , out of mind’ took affect and the church could finally live without tension in ’suburban peace’.
We even complimented the divide by creating a gospel that eliminated what we conveniently termed as ‘social justice’ so that we could become good evangelicals saving souls while leaving the care of the poor to the mainline church or the government or nobody.
from my blog…
‘And 54 years following the Brown versus Board Supreme Court ruling of 1954 schools still appear segregated in my city. We simply built expressways and bedroom communities and new structures called “evangelical churches”. And Sunday remains the most segregated hour of the week.
It would seem to me that Christians should have resisted this white flight. And, of course, it is always more complex…and always will be… unless we become more intentional. Can suburban churches stop talking about meeting “my needs”,” my success”, “my life” just long enough to hear the whimper of a drowning world? As Bono said, “Jesus can you take the time to throw a drowning man a line, Peace on Earth”–which was directed, of course, to the “haves” who “horde”.
“We know through painful experience that freedom is never voluntarily given by the oppressor; it must be demanded by the oppressed. Frankly, I have yet to engage in a direct-action campaign that was “well timed” in the view of those who have not suffered unduly from the disease of segregation. For years now I have heard the word “Wait!” It rings in the ear of every Negro with piercing familiarity. This “Wait” has almost always meant ‘Never.” We must come to see, with one of our distinguished jurists, that “justice too long delayed is justice denied.”–the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King
To become part of the solution we need to take responsibility for our participation in creating the problems. Until we come to grips with out collective sin I fear we will be putting band-aids on severed arteries.
Don’t lose heart Joel.
UEMedical, the healthcare developers behind the pioneering hospital project Danat Al Emarat, demonstrated its unyielding commitment to women’s health by supporting the Middle East Obstetrics and Gynaecology Exhibition & Conference 2009. …
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soy, fish, tea, oats, peas, and olive oil
It is recommended that fish should be eaten at least twice a week in order to receive the full benefits associated with fish oil. Fish such as sardines and salmon are a good source
oatmeal or oat bran.
Chinese red yeast rice
Green tea, oolong tea
pecans, pistachios, and walnuts
blueberries
red wine and beer(Just two glasses a day)
we've had a program like that at our work for the last 6 months, its working out pretty well as far as i can tell. i am a part of the committee that started it up since i used to be a personal trainer. id suggest gathering as much research as possible and talking to your coworkers about it so you have more people interested. the cost depends on alot of stuff, you just have to figure it out. but the thing is that it can save a company money in the long run (and your bosses will like that part!) by lowering people calling in sick, increasing productivity and increasing morale. it is an investment that pays off. good luck!