Archive for November, 2009


Means to Control Cholesterol Levels

It is imperative that you maintain optimum cholesterol levels. A high level of cholesterol increases risks of a coronary attack along with numerous other health disorders. If you too are working with the difficulty of high cholesterol, then the following tips will be of great help.

Step one : Control Fat and Cholesterol intake in your diet
The first step that you need to take to bring down your cholesterol levels is to reduce your consumption of fat and cholesterol. You need to make healthier food decisions. For example, select olive oil and canola oil that are monosaturated instead of saturated fats such as butter.

Discontinue the intake of eggs, polyunsaturated oils, butter, margarine and other varieties of greasy dressings, as they are high in cholesterol. In pace of these, increase the intake of entire cereals and fibre rich items, such as fresh veggies and fruits.

Step two : change Your Lifestyle
You should not behave like a couch-potato. Also, give up junk food. Such a lifestyle increases the chances of enhancing cholesterol levels in your bloodstream manifold. You should eat food items with high nutrient and fibre content. Moreover, you need to also exercise frequently. You may either play field games, or do activities like walking, running and cycling. Physical activities increase the body metabolism and help you digest the food quickly.

Step 3: Switch to cholesterol lowering medication if lifestyle changes do not help
If lifestyle changes are not working or if there is an insistent duty to lower LDL cholesterol levels and the level of triglycerides, then do not hesitate to take medications. Medicines for lowering cholesterol can be divided into a few categories based on the intended element of cholesterol- Cholesterol, LDL cholesterol or Triglycerides.

If your LDL levels are high, then you would medications such as statin and Vitamin B sometimes called Niacin. However, ensure that you do not overdose Niacin as it can cause serious complications. You should only consume a quantity as suggested by your GP. The same is applicable for other cholesterol lowering medicines as well as an overdose of any medicine can have side effects.

Step 4 : Raise the Intake of HDL Cholesterol
Yes, you read it right. This cholesterol can help you bring down overall cholesterol levels in your body. That is why it is called good cholesterol levels in your body. Its optimum level in the body should be 60 mg/dL [ 1.55 mmol/L ]. Any level below it is considered perfect level in the body.

If your HDL Cholesterol level has fallen below the above stated level below it is regarded deadly for the help of foods such as monosaturated oils [ olive oil ], foods rich in Vitamin B, and by limited consumption of alcohol. However, do not over-indulge in consuming Vitamin B. This can cause serious side-effects.

Homemade Cholesterol Treatments

Many folks opt to take medicines to lower their cholesterol. However, a few home remedies can also successfully reduce cholesterol levels, thereby eliminating the need for medication. This article discusses the most common of these remedies.

The common soybean is a great cholesterol reducing cure and can help lower high levels of the same by upto 20%. 25-50 grams of soybean, taken everyday for as short a time period as a month can show significant results. What’s more, it also inhabits the upward thrust of cholesterol in individuals who have it in normal levels and simultaneously helps the arteries expand further.

Garlic is another home remedy that is very useful in countering cholesterol and studies show this great benefit comes from its property as a proved anti-oxidant. Several scientific research projects have concluded that including 2 medium-sized cloves of garlic in your everyday meals can reduce the blood cholesterol while also reducing its assimilation by the body.

Sunflower seeds are another tried and tested home remedy to combat high cholesterol levels. The linoleic acid present in them works by reducing the cholesterol deposits found in and around the capillaries, thereby, improving overall blood circulation. Sunflower seed oil may be used for cooking healthier meals as well and also to obtain low cholesterol benefits.

Another good home remedy for high cholesterol levels is ginger. It reduces the cholesterol and dilutes the blood thereby improving its circulation. You can go for raw ginger or can also have tablets made of that.

Another excellent way to reduce cholesterol levels in your body is Coriander seeds. They are primarily taken with boiled water in order to maximize the impact. In fact when it comes to the safety to effectiveness proportion, there aren’t many cholesterol homemade treatments which can measure up to this one. It’s also one of the safest options.

Consumption of soluble fibers is an alternate way to clean up the cholesterol amassed in the body. These fibers make cholesterol around themselves which is then removed from the excretory system. There are numerous sources for these fibers like apple peel, berries, barley,carrots, peas and such like.

Another home cure that you may consider is honey which can be consumed with water but it is more effective when taken with cider vinegar.

Onion juice is also a great way to bring down cholesterol levels. It works as a natural blood purifier helping manage the cholesterol present. It is a convenient and safe home method to try.

None of these home remedies would be hard to find nor would they break the bank, yet they are very useful in cleaning cholesterol from body.

How to Prevent High Blood Pressure

There are a few ways of preventing high blood pressure, also known as hypertension, as the problem is linked to your diet, heredity and health. The best recommendation for controlling high blood pressure is to live a healthy lifestyle and getting regular physical activity, though what you eat is also very important.

The most important approach to successful high blood pressure treatment is to change your diet. There are several diets or eating plans that have been developed specifically to reduce blood pressure as many foods can cause high blood pressure. One of these diets, known as DASH, focuses on eating low fat foods, low cholesterol foods, fruits, vegetables and low fat dairy products. Whole grains, fish, nuts and poultry are all suggested sources of protein.

There is another diet known as the DASH-sodium diet, as your sodium intake affects your blood pressure. This diet limits your sodium intake to 1,500 milligrams a day. Research has shown that decreasing your sodium intake can help control high blood pressure.

Many other factors such as being overweight can also produce high blood pressure. You can prevent high blood pressure by losing a small amount of weight, such as ten pounds or so. Besides decreasing high blood pressure, losing weight also decreases the chance of developing cardiovascular disease, high cholesterol and diabetes. Losing weight has a great range of health rewards.

Besides losing weight, you also want to get regular physical activity, as the more you exercise the lower your resting heart rate will be when you are not working out. You do not need to go all out; simply start moderately. Just walking 30 minutes a day is enough to help reduce your blood pressure though it is recommended that you do different things to keep it interesting. Exercise also helps you when looking to lose weight.

Blood pressure is also related to alcohol consumption, and over consumption can lead to high blood pressure. You must drink moderately, which means two drinks per day for men and one drink per day for women. One ounce of strong liquor, 5 ounces of wine and 12 ounces of beer is considered one drink. If you are endeavoring to lose weight then alcoholic beverages can make this challenging.

Smoking also causes high blood pressure and if you’re a smoker then you need to quit in order to prevent high blood pressure. You can bring your blood pressure back to normal in a year simply by quitting smoking.

Apples - Munch Your Way to Beneficial Nutrition

There’s no easier way to add a dose of nutrition to your day than by crunching on a tasty apple. You possibly first practiced its delightful flavor since a baby, when applesauce introduced you to correct food. And at present, whether it’s a Granny Smith, a McIntosh, or a Red Delicious, you believe of apples because old friends. Grown throughout the world, apples are high in fiber, vitamins, minerals, and antioxidants. They’re fat-free, cholesterol-free, and low inside sodium. In short, eating apples is a smart part of a healthy lifestyle.

6 ways apples remain you healthy

Regulates your day.

You don’t have to worry about staying general anymore. Whether your problem is visiting the bathroom too often or not often adequate, apples can improve.

A British researcher, Dr. D.P Burkitt, believes one of the easiest ways to prevent every sorts of illnesses, is to avoid constipation. He calls the diseases caused by chronic constipation “heaviness diseases.” Appendicitis, diverticular diseases, hemorrhoids, hiatal hernias, and even varicose veins be able to all be caused by straining to pass tiny, difficult stools.

Simply one apple using its skin contains 4 to 5 grams of fiber - the most main nutrient inside keeping your bowels working like a well-oiled machine. Keeping yourself regular devoid of relying on damaging laxatives may be since easy as replacing that afternoon snack of potato chips or cookies using a crisp, delicious apple. And believe of the calories you’ll save. The average apple has about 80 calories even as a serving of chips weighs in at 150 calories and you’ll purchase about 200 from just some cookies.

But that’s not all apples be able to do. They’re also cool for diarrhea, thanks to an ingredient called pectin. This carbohydrate has a congealing response in your intestines that helps firm things up and return you to expected. Applesauce is really the greatest apple product for diarrhea, as it’s made with no the high.-fiber skin. But watch out for extra sugar. Several brands of applesauce dump a truckload of sweeteners into an otherwise healthy food, and too much refined sugar possibly will make your diarrhea worse.

Keeps your body young.

By at present you know antioxidants be able to protect you from a lot of of the diseases that seem to be a section of aging. In detail, so lots of people are taking supplements for antioxidant protection that it’s become a multibillion-dollar industry. But the evidence is mounting that whole foods can do more for you than pills.

When scientists compared a 1,500-milligram vitamin C supplement to one little apple, the results were astounding - the antioxidant values were equal. That means a fresh apple has more than 15 times the antioxidant strength of the suggested daily dose of vitamin C. And that’s just for starters. The researchers also found an frequent apple was able to stop the growth of colon and liver cancer cells inside test tubes. Unpeeled apples were especially successful. The question you need to ask yourself: Why waste cash on flavorless supplements when you can pay for greater antioxidant firepower from a sweet, crunchy fruit?
Cuts your risk of heart disease. Sometimes it’s not easy to remember which food is great for which section of your body. The next era you pick up an apple, examine it carefully. It’s shaped a bit like a heart - and that must help out you remember apples are fantastic for your heart.

It’s the magnesium and potassium in apples that assist regulate your blood pressure and keep your heart beating steadily, and it’s the flavonoid quercetin, a naturally occurring antioxidant, that protects your artery walls from harm and keeps your blood flowing smoothly.

In detail adding flavonoid-rich foods like apples to your diet has been exactly confirmed to reduce your risk of heart infection. There’s proof of this in a study of Japanese women who ate foods high in quercetin. They were less likely to acquire coronary heart disease than other women and they had decrease levels of complete and LDL, or bad, cholesterol.

Strikes on the heart of strokes.

Apples are even a smart choice for helping avoid strokes. Scientists aren’t sure which ingredient in this multi-talented fruit to credit, but the connection is clear - citizens who commonly eat apples are less probable to have strokes than citizens who don’t.

Guards your joints.

Inside areas of the world where fruits and vegetables make up a large section of the diet, fantastically few citizens get arthritis. Compare this to modernized countries where fruits and vegetables have been replaced with speedily, processed food and you’ll discover up to 70 percent of the population suffers from some form of arthritis. Simply a coincidence? Not according to nutrition experts. They link this trend in section to boron, a trace mineral many plants, including apples, absorb from the soil.

If you eat like most public, you’ll get about 1 to 2 milligrams (mg) of boron a day, mostly from non-citrus fruits, leafy vegetables, and nuts. Experts believe, however, you need anywhere from 3 to 10 mg a day to affect your risk of arthritis. To increase your boron intake to this level, you’d have to eat extra than nine apples a day.

This is perhaps an unreasonable quantity for most citizens, but don’t despair. Pair an apple with other boron-rich foods like several tablespoons of peanut butter and a large handful of raisins, and you’ll not just have a delicious afternoon snack, but you’ll make your joint-saving quota of boron at the same time.
Helps you breathe deeply. Your lungs are beaten every day by cigarette smoke, air pollution, pollen, and other air-borne nasties.

Higher than that perhaps you suffer from asthma, emphysema, or similar lung condition. If all you select to do is take a deep breath, then grab an apple.
A five-year study of more than 2,500 men from Wales found those who ate five or more apples per week were able to fill their lungs with more air than men who didn’t eat apples. Experts think you might be getting a few special protection from the antioxidant quercetin. Unfortunately, eating apples be able to’t reverse a lung condition you already have, but you just can add a new line of defense against further injure.

Pantry pointers

Buy apples that are unbruised, firm, and have magnificent color. Take them out of their plastic bag and store them in your refrigerator - loose in the produce bin or inside a paper bag is best. And because they will absorb odors, stay them away from strong-smelling foods like garlic and onions.