Archive for June, 2010

Deep Sea Fish Oil

Monday, June 28th, 2010

When shopping for a fish oil supplement, be aware that deep sea fish oil is the top source of the Omega-3 fatty acids that your body needs.

While eating large amounts of deep sea fish, or any fish, is not recommended due to high levels of contamination and toxins present, the better quality deep sea fish oil supplements are carefully purified to ensure safety and purity. Molecular distillation is the most common method of purification, which produces very safe and clean oil.

The best sort of supplement to buy is deep sea fish oil that’s been extracted from cold water fatty fish such as salmon, herring, sardines, hoki and anchovies is the best type to buy. Look for a supplement that contains a high amount of DHA and EPA. These are the healthy Omega-3 fatty acids fish oil contains. You want a supplement that has a greater amount of DHA than EPA.

There are numerous confirmed benefits of taking a fish oil supplements on a daily basis. DHA and EPA can prevent and treat a number of health issues, such as heart disease, high cholesterol, cancer, depression, anxiety, diabetes, AHDH, immune disorders, inflammation, Irritable Bowel Syndrome, Alzheimer’s disease, vision disorders, ulcers, macular degeneration, eczema, psoriasis and acne. That’s a long list!

Taking a fish oil supplement during pregnancy and nursing is also highly recommended, as health benefits to infants and toddlers have been confirmed as well. The children of mothers took deep sea fish oil while pregnant and while nursing have a lower occurrences of behavior problems, learning disabilities and ADHD, and even have higher IQ’s and earlier cognitive development.

All you need to realize these benefits is a dose of 2 – 4 grams of fish oil a day. Fish oil supplements are available in a variety of formats, including gel caps, capsules, tablets and even as liquid fish oil.

Whichever type of supplement you decide to take should be stored in a cool, dark, dry place in a dark colored bottle to prevent the oil from becoming rancid.

Related Articles

Popular search terms for this information:

What’s So Bad About LDL Cholesterol?

Saturday, June 26th, 2010

We hear a lot of talk about a variety of kinds of cholesterol: good, bad, HDL, LDL, VLDL, triglycerides, lipids and more. If you’re not a doctor, all somewhat confusing.

The goal of this post is to explain what LDL cholesterol is – the type that’s also known as “bad” cholesterol – and the role it plays in overall cholesterol health.

First, it’s probably a good idea to do a quick refresher on precisely what cholesterol is and the relationship between cholesterol and fat.

Cholesterol is a waxy, fat-like substance that circulates in the blood. The body manufactures a certain amount of it, predominantly in the liver. We get more from the food we eat. Because cholesterol is incapable of traveling through the bloodstream alone, it must attach itself to a protein. This combination is called a “lipoprotein.”

LDL stands for “low density lipoprotein.” Think of it as ”low down and lousy,” because this is the bad stuff. LDL gets stuck on the walls of the arteries, building up plaque which causes an obstruction, or “hardening of the arteries.” It can lead to a heart attack if it builds up in the coronary arteries, or a stroke if it builds up in cerebral arteries.

There’s another typeof lipoprotein that’s exactly the opposite. It’s the “good” cholesterol you hear people talking about. This type is known as HDL or “high density lipoprotein.” It’s considered to be “good” cholesterol because it attaches itself onto the bad cholesterol and carries it through the bloodstream to the liver. From there, it’s flushed out of the body.

A lot of the LDL in our diet comes from fats in the foods we eat : especially two kinds of fats. These are known as saturated fats and trans fats. You find these unhealthy fats in meat (especially the red variety), certain oils (like those used for french fries in fast food restaurants), prepackaged and processed foods, and baked goods.

When you avoid these foods and focusing on healthy choices like fruits, vegetables, and certain nuts and grains, you can lower your LDL which lowers the possibility that you’ll ever have heart disease.

The simple abbreviations LDL and HDL can be confusing, and it may be tough to remember which is good. It may help to keep in mind  that LDL stands for low density, while HDL is high density, and in this case, low is bad and high is good. Or as our cardiologist acquaintance says, “Low has got to go…”

By keeping low levels of LDL and high levels of HDL, you are increasing your overall health, and also reducing your risk of heart attack and stroke. By combining exercise and weight loss with healthful eating, you significantly increase your overall well being and keep your cholesterol at healthy levels.

When you have your cholesterol tested, your doctor will probably explain your numbers in terms of total cholesterol, HDL and LDL levels. Ideal HDL is 60 mg/dL or higher. Your ideal LDL level should be 100 mg/dL or lower. Your doctor may also give you  the relationship between LDL and HDL as a ratio. The lower the ratio of LDL over HDL, the better.

It’s important to have your cholesterol levels checked often. Research in recent years has shown that high cholesterol is becoming a serious health problem in younger and younger people. Doctors now say even teenagers and 20-somethings should have cholesterol and blood pressure checked. This is because most kids these days eat a fatty, cholesterol-rich diet and get very little exercise. Therefore, hypertension (high blood pressure) and high cholesterol are becoming health threats for younger people much more so than they were in years gone by.

Related Articles

Popular search terms for this information:

Cholesterol Diet Plans – What Works?

Friday, June 25th, 2010

If you’ve recently heard from your doctor that your cholesterol levels are too high, you’ve probably also been told it’s time to change your eating habits so you can lower them.

But you may be asking, “Exactly how do I do  that? What foods will help me lower my cholesterol? What foods can I eat? What foods should I avoid? Where do I find the information I need?”

Don’t worry. It’s not as hard to design a good diet for high cholesterol as you may think. There hundreds – possibly thousands – of readily-accessible resources at your disposal to teach you what you need to know.

But understand up front that planning a good diet for high cholesterol is not difficult. It’s actually sticking with the diet that separates those who will be successful from the “wannabes.”

Changing to a low cholesterol diet is the real challenge. But it’s important to try because cholesterol health matters. It may even be life-saving. Here’s why.

When you eat meals that result in high cholesterol, you raise your risk of developing conditions like atherosclerosis, high blood pressure and heart disease, along with a variety of other diseases and disorders. These conditions can limit your longevity along with your quality of life.

There’s no question that it’s tough stick to your diet when you’re bombarded by hundreds of advertising messages everyday inviting you to “slip.” But once you commit to lowering your cholesterol, you’ll be pleased to find out that many healthy foods taste pretty good after all.

Before looking at specific foods, let’s take a look at four different kinds of fats that come in most of the food we eat. This is important. When you know which fats are good and which fats are bad, you can choose foods that are good and avoid those that aren’t. You may not have been aware of it, but not all fats are bad. In fact, several of them are actually good for you.

First, we’ll look at the bad fats.

Saturated fats – These are typically found in animal meat (especially red meat), coconut oil, palm oil and so on .

Trans fats – This is the type of fat you get in some of our most beloved foods like baked goods (cake, muffins, doughnuts, croissants etc.). Trans fats are also used often in fast food restaurants, especially the ones that offer french fries. Many pre-packaged convenience foods contain excessive amounts of trans fats (not to mentionlots of blood pressure-raising salt).

The Good Stuff

Good fats include:

Polyunsaturated fats – These come from vegetable oils & fish oils. They reduce cholesterol when consumed moderately.

Monounsaturated fats – These come from sunflower seeds, peanuts, olive oil, etc. They actually lower your cholesterol levels.

Here are some low-cholesterol or no-cholesterol examples.

*Most fruits and vegetables. Blueberries, strawberries, blackberries and raspberries are especially good and can double as a dessert instead of sweets.

*Several different kinds of nuts, especially almonds and walnuts. These are handy as snacks and you can eat them several times a day (but be watchful of calories).

*Oat bran or oatmeal, certain cooked beans like pinto beans, kidney beans, and garbanzo beans or chick peas.

*Soy, which you get from tofu, tempeh, soymilk, roasted soy nuts.

*Many types of fish will help you reduce your cholesterol levels.
Several types of fish get high grades as cholesterol fighters. Some of the best are albacore tuna, herring, lake trout, mackerel, sardines and salmon. There’s an essential fatty acid in these kinds of fish called omega-3, which is extremely healthy. Fish also provides a lot of protein without a lot of calories.

A Final Thought

Formulating a low cholesterol diet means you have to get smart when you shop. You do it by conscientiously reading information on the labels of foods you buy – especially if it comes in plastic wrappers, metal cans or cardboard boxes.

Unfortunately, many people avoid eating a good diet for high cholesterol because they mistakenly believe it will be tasteless and boring. But when you really take a look at all the healthy – and tasty – possibilities a low cholesterol diet offers, you’ll find it can be a lot more interesting than you probably thought.

Related Articles

Popular search terms for this information:

A Look At How High Protein Vegetables Can Improve Your Health

Sunday, June 20th, 2010

Most normal vegetables do not contain all the high enough quantities of protein which is why it is important to learn more about how and which High Protein Vegetables can make up for the deficiency. Normally, folks think that vegetables do not contain sufficient protein quantities and in fact Soybean contains the amount required of amino acids and equal to some of the protein that is found in meat.

If you wish to get sufficient proteins from vegetable consumption then you will need to take both high and low protein vegetables that together should be able to provide the body with its required protein requirements.

High Protein Vegetables play a useful role as they contain amino acids that help the body in growing as well as maintaining its tissues.

Vegetables containing high amount of proteins provide health benefits, especially for athletes. The truth today is more real than ever because high amounts of vegetable proteins make for a proper healthy and safe diet.

Of course we all know that, proteins do contribute immensely in helping the body to perform its functions properly. This means that the body needs to get high amounts of proteins and in fact, protein supplements can prove to be highly beneficial to a persons health and the cost is well worth the price.

But, it would be wrong to assume that the body must get plenty of animal proteins because the wrong amounts of animal protein in the body can actually complicate a persons health. For example, too much of meat protein sometimes causes some kidney illnesses.

Grains and beans as well as nuts and seeds are superior high protein vegetables as they are loaded with the right amount of amino acids that also happen to be basic and necessary body building blocks. In fact, the body actually needs the 20 amino acids that exist in the protein from Soybeans.

Since vegetables containing high amounts of protein contain correspondingly high amounts of amino acids, they are good for the body. Soybeans, and quinoa are some of the best vegetables containing high proteins as they have the amino acid content.

Some grains are known to be lacking in Lysine while legumes do not have enough Methionine.

To conclude, the importance of obtaining proteins from vegetables lies in the fact that it is necessary to get the amino acids into the system. The protein contained in some special vegetables supply can be enough, however others require to combine them with high quality vegetable protein supplements like the one produced by Herbalife with the required amount of amino acids.

Want to find out more about High Protein Vegetables, then visit George Plaza’s site on how to choose the best High Protein Vegetables for your needs.

Related Articles

Popular search terms for this information: