Posts Tagged ‘cholesterol and diet’

First discovered in 1955, Chromium is an essential trace mineral. Although our bodies contain only a few milligrams, even this tiny amount is critical for regulating insulin and blood sugar levels, as well as activating enzymes essential for energy production and used in many high blood pressure remedy. We get chromium through food in a lower cholesterol diet, primarily yeast, grains, nuts, prunes, potatoes, and seafood. But we don’t get enough overall; many Americans are deficient in chromium. One reason is that not following a lower cholesterol diet means high amounts of refined sugar leach chromium right out of us. Recent studies find that supplementing with chromium in a lower cholesterol diet may not only lower cholesterol but also help stabilize blood sugar levels and improve insulin sensitivity as part of a high blood pressure remedy. Thus, it may be particularly beneficial to people with metabolic syndrome or diabetes. What the research shows: In one small study of 28 people, those taking 200 micrograms of chromium daily for 42 days had significant decreases in both total cholesterol and LDL, decreases that didn’t occur when they took a placebo. At least eight other studies have found that chromium supplementation as part of a lower cholesterol diet improved good cholesterol. And numerous studies found supplementing with at least 400 micrograms of chromium as a high blood pressure remedy improved fasting glucose levels, a sign of improved insulin sensitivity. Be aware that chromium may take several weeks or even months to yield results in a lower cholesterol diet. Who should take it: People with metabolic syndrome or diabetes, as well as anyone susceptible to chromium deficiency (including athletes, the elderly, and people who follow diets high in refined sugar) as a high blood pressure remedy or lower cholesterol diet. Recommended dose: 200 to 400 micrograms a day in divided doses for people with insulin resistance; 400 to 1,000 micrograms a day in divided doses for people with diabetes. Use chromium picolinate as your source. For everyone else the amount in a multivitamin should be sufficient in a lower cholesterol diet. Warnings/contraindications: If you have diabetes, check with your doctor; taking chromium as a high blood pressure remedy may alter your requirements for insulin or other diabetes medication.

Source: Readers Digest

For more information visit:  Hypercet

Foods high in cholesterol are easy to pick out from those that are low in cholesterol especially in a lower cholesterol diet. The high cholesterol foods will be those ones that taste the best. This makes them hard to avoid if you are the practice of eating without thinking about the foods in a lower cholesterol diet.

Most of what we buy, cook, and eat are not part of a lower cholesterol diet and are high in cholesterol, saturated fats, and calories. From processed goods to baked pastries, we may be unaware that we have exceeded our limit of cholesterol intake when trying to follow a lower cholesterol diet.

Foods not inline with a lower cholesterol diet are also high in saturated fats. When we eat a lot of saturated fats the liver tends to produce more LDL, bad cholesterol. All fatty foods are not bad for the heart and cholesterol. What are bad, are the foods high in saturated fat and triglycerides. Fatty foods rich in unsaturated fats are actually good for you and for your lower cholesterol diet, as its consumption makes the liver produce HDL, good cholesterol.

Even though most of what we eat are foods high in cholesterol, it does not necessarily mean that we have to drastically change our lower cholesterol diet. We can continue to enjoy our meals but we do have to be careful and vigilant of what we take in. The labels on the containers of the food you buy are there for a reason. Check them and see if you are going to be eating too much calories, fat, or cholesterol. You do not have to avoid them, but you can eat them in moderation.

Here is a list of foods high in cholesterol and to be avoided or at the least eaten in moderation because they are not part of a lower cholesterol diet:

Taking action now and lowering your cholesterol with a lower cholesterol diet will help you avoid strokes, heart attacks, and even worse, death. Diet will play a major part in your action plan to get your cholesterol levels down. Foods not in a lower cholesterol diet should only be eaten in moderation. Some doctors and nutritionists recommend that you should counsume no more than 300 mg of cholesterol per day. But most doctors and nutritionalists nowadays recognise that it is not the cholesterol in foods that actually influences the cholesterol levels in the blood. It is generally accepted now that it is the intake of saturated fats and trans-fats in food which trigger the liver into producing excessive amounts of cholesterol – more than the body requires for is normal operation. It is this excess cholesterol that remains in the blood and deposits on to the artery walls.

For more information about a lower cholesterol diet, it’s causes and effects on your body and how to reduce your blood cholesterol levels naturally and homeopathic visit Normal Cholesterol Support

What foods can lower your cholesterol?

If you were to consult a doctor about your high cholesterol level, the doctor’s prescription will most likely be to eat a lower cholesterol diet. If the bad cholesterol level remains the same even after following a strict healthy lower cholesterol diet for a period of time, then cholesterol lowering medicines maybe prescribed along with the lower cholesterol diet. Eating a lower cholesterol diet, and supplementing with natural cholesterol formulas, is more important in the treatment of cholesterol prescription medication.

High Cholesterol Foods

HDL cholesterol and LDL cholesterol are the two types of cholesterol. The HDL cholesterol level should always be higher and the LDL cholesterol level should always be lower for a balanced healthy lower cholesterol diet.

The LDL cholesterol gets deposited in the artery and results in damage of the artery. The HDL cholesterol removes this excess level of LDL from the blood. So it is always necessary that HDL level should always be higher. The LDL cholesterol level can be decreased by taking an apple everyday which is part of a lower cholesterol diet. Most of the vegetables and fruits are free from cholesterol so it can be taken to reduce cholesterol level. Exercising everyday and taking a balanced diet is very important in increasing HDL level. But cholesterol produced in the liver and certain cells are useful for the production of certain hormones and membranes in the body and are needed in a lower cholesterol diet.

Some of the food in a lower cholesterol diet:

1. Vegetables and fruits

Vegetables and fruits in the form of salads or soup is one of the best ways for maintaining the level of cholesterol in a lower cholesterol diet. To start a day with vegetables is more essential to maintain a lower cholesterol diet. Garlic is more essential for lowering LDL levels; as a result the arteries are not damaged and maintained healthier. Vegetables like beans and onion are useful in lowering LDL level and increases the HDL level. Carrot, cauliflower has a lot to do in the reduction of cholesterol level in a lower cholesterol diet. Citrus fruits such as lemon, orange help to reduce the LDL level as it contains vitamin c.

2. Oats

Most of the studies reveal that oats is one of the important lower cholesterol diet foods that helps to reduce cholesterol level. Oats are rich in fiber which helps in maintaining a thinner artery. Ten grams of fiber rich diet everyday is essential for lowering cholesterol.

3. Nuts

Nuts such as Almonds, Walnuts, Peanuts are rich in phytonutrients and vitamin E.These nuts are as well as rich in fat but helps to lower LDL cholesterol .Consuming walnuts after a fat meal helps to reduce heart problems. As nuts are rich in calories, consumption of nuts should be less.

4. Soybeans

Soybeans are one of the efficient recipes to reduce LDL cholesterol and prevent obesity. But soybeans are not useful in reducing cholesterol but still it is used to reduce LDL level because of its high in level of fiber and minerals.

5. Fish

As fish is rich in fatty acids it helps to reduce the LDL cholesterol and pupil with different types of diabetes consuming fish lowers the level of cholesterol in their body.

6. Alcohol

A reduced level of consumption of alcoholic drinks such as beer or wine helps to maintain the cholesterol level.

7. Vitamin C and Vitamin E

Recipe rich in vitamin C such as papaya, orange, grape juice, strawberry and rich in vitamin E such as almonds, peanuts, walnuts reduces cholesterol level.

What is Cholesterol?

Cholesterol is a sterol (a combination steroid and alcohol). Cholesterol is a lipid found in the cell membranes of all tissues, and it is transported in the blood plasma of all animals. Because cholesterol is synthesized by all eukaryotes, trace amounts of cholesterol are also found in membranes of plants and fungi.The name originates from the Greek chole- (bile) and stereos (solid), and the chemical suffix -ol for an alcohol, as researchers first identified cholesterol in solid form in gallstones by François Poulletier de la Salle in 1769. However, it is only in 1815 that chemist Eugène Chevreul named the compound “cholesterine”. Most of the cholesterol is synthesized by the body and some has dietary origin. Cholesterol is more abundant in tissues which either synthesize more or have more abundant densely-packed membranes, for example, the liver, spinal cord and brain. It plays a central role in many biochemical processes, such as the composition of cell membranes and the synthesis of steroid hormones. Cholesterol is insoluble in blood, but is transported in the circulatory system bound to one of the varieties of lipoprotein, spherical particles which have an exterior composed mainly of water-soluble proteins. The main types, low-density lipoprotein (LDL) and high-density lipoprotein (HDL) carry cholesterol from and to the liver.According to the lipid hypothesis, abnormally high cholesterol levels (hypercholesterolemia) and abnormal proportions of LDL and HDL are associated with cardiovascular disease by promoting atheroma development in arteries (atherosclerosis). This disease process leads to myocardial infarction (heart attack), stroke and peripheral vascular disease. As high LDL contributes to this process, it is termed “bad cholesterol”, while high levels of HDL (”good cholesterol”) offer a degree of protection. The balance can be redressed with exercise, a healthy diet, and sometimes medication.