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.

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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.

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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.

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You might remember the very welcome news from a couple of years ago: some research was published which seemed to indicate that eating certain kinds of chocolate is probably actually good for your heart.

While, unfortunately, it was true that the research didn’t conclude that all varieties of chocolate are good for your heart, it was still a reason for chocolate lovers to cheer.

Now there’s even more good news, this time from the University of Illinois. A research team has found that eating a brand of dark chocolate can actually help bring down your cholesterol levels – and – reduce your blood pressure.

The scientists involved in the study said that the good news on blood pressure was a bit of a surprise.

The key to the drop in blood pressure, apparently, was the presence of certain plant sterols that were added to the bars.

But wait a minute. This is “sweet” news all right, but an important disclosure should be made before you clear the grocery store shelves of CocoaVia bars: the study was funded by the Mars Candy Company. So does that mean the study might be tainted? Or at least a little bit skewed in Mars’ favor?

The researchers say, absolutely not. The head of  the team asserted that it was a double-blinded trial that wasn’t skewed to benefit the company in any fashion. He also asserted that the results were validated by a peer-review in the Journal of Nutrition.which is a well respected scientific publication.

Here’s how the test was conducted.~Here’s how the research team conducted the study.~Here’s how the researchers reached their conclusions.}

Nearly 50 test subjects were recruited for the study. Each of the subjects had blood pressure that was normal, but slightly high cholesterol levels.

The subjects were separated into equal groups and given different blends of the CocoaVia bars: one with plant sterols,one without. Individuals who ate bars with plant sterols finished the study,which lasted about two months, with cholesterol readings that were about 2 percent below the other group. More impressively, their LDL or “bad cholesterol” levels  dropped by slightly more than 5 percent.

One of the study’s co-authors noted that, in addition to the improvements in cholesterol health, there were also improvements in blood pressure, body weight, and other measures of heart health.

A CocoaVia bar contains around 100 calories.

The Mars company commissioned the University of Illinois study to research the effect on certain substances in cocoa beans that actually promote healthy hearts. Over the years, the company has reportedly spent millions looking for ways to make sure these cardiovascular benefits were retained during refining.

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