Lowering Cholesterol Levels

It’s a new year and many have good health and a starting a healthy lifestyle on their minds. In addition to losing weight and exercising more how about getting your cholesterol levels checked and start lowering them if they are high.  A quick and simple blood test at your doctors office is all that it takes to start you on your way.  Actually the most painful part of the test is having to stop eating food for 12 hours before your test (yes, you can still drink water and take your necessary meds but all gum, food and drink other than water is not permitted). Not having my morning coffee is a killer so I schedule my test for the first open appointment at the lab.

Experts say that people who are over 20 years of age should pay more attention to their cholesterol level and advise them to do everything they can to lower their levels of “bad” cholesterol. Despite the so many claims that you can lower your cholesterol level through low cholesterol diet plans, lifestyle changes, and monitored medication, more and more people who suffer from this condition still fail to lower their cholesterol level.

Although it is sometimes hard to stick with the needed requirements to be able to lower your cholesterol levels, it is still possible to get the result that you want by following these easy ways to lower to cholesterol:

1. Make sure you know where you stand by getting your levels checked regularly. Visiting your doctor and getting your cholesterol levels checked regularly is very important to achieving optimum health for good. Since high cholesterol is related to cardiovascular disease, make sure that you know your numbers so you can rearrange your diet and change lifestyle habits as well. Knowing your cholesterol level will also help you decide what kind of diet plan you should follow and if you need medication and treatment already. Knowing your starting point will also help you monitor your progress toward healthy cholesterol levels. If you know your exact cholesterol status then you can also do something to combat it by learning to quit cigarette smoking and excessive eating of high cholesterol foods.

2. Understanding the basics and learning everything you can about the condition. If you have been diagnosed with high cholesterol levels, the first thing to do is to understand the situation fully and acquire more information about the condition. By conducting your own personal research on the condition will also make you knowledgeable about initial lifestyle changes you can do to lessen the problem and you will also have an idea what other treatments options available. Knowing everything about cholesterol, its types, kinds, and health risks will also make you understand that the case is not really hopeless if you are in the right track.

Finding and getting more information about the condition will also make you realize that there are so many things that you can do. You can get more information from a registered dietician, local centers for nutrition, local hospital or public health department, and from a consultation with your attending physician or health care provider.

3. Watch your weight and get rid of extra pounds if needed. Monitoring your weight is one of the best ways to combat high levels of cholesterol. If you think you are overweight for your age and height, then you should be contemplating on slimming down to be able to decrease your high cholesterol level. Since being overweight disrupts a person’s normal metabolism of dietary fat, experts say that people who weight more than they should shout start planning on a healthy lifestyle and diet to lose weight safely.

But, before having a drastic change in your diet and lifestyle, make sure that you visit your doctor first to access your overall health. Doing this may prevent further damage especially if you have to undergo certain medications.

4. Get physical, do regular physical activities and exercises more often. The wonders of exercise are indeed very essential in lowering high cholesterol levels. Doing regular physical activities can also help raise the good cholesterol levels and lose weight as well. There’s really no need for high-intensity workouts, regular brisk walking or jogging can help the body boost HDL cholesterol and also beneficial for the heart.

5. Make a commitment and stick to that commitment. The best way to lower cholesterol levels  is to be able to develop the discipline to stick to your goal. You can also lower your cholesterol level by acquainting yourself what are the good and the bad fat and its sources, by discovering the wonders of fiber in cutting down cholesterol, by taking in good multivitamins, by freeing yourself from lots of stress, and by exploring and considering treatment options when all else fails.

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There is not much scientific evidence to prove that tension and emotional stress alone can cause a coronary heart attack.Yes, stress does take a nasty toll on your body but once you add stress to high cholesterol you have a recipe for a heart attack.

If your coronary arteries were clear of plaque, you could probably live under the worst kind of duress and tension— and you may not suffer a coronary attack.

Unfortunately, however, Americans don’t fall into that class. We keep busy walling-up our arteries with cholesterol and fat. So, we have to concern ourselves with tension; as a contributing cause—the trigger that sets off a coronary attack.

When some prominent person is killed by a coronary attack, newspaper writers often explain the tragedy by intimating that the deceased was an unfortunate victim of tension and overwork.

Almost everyone sincerely believes that tension is a primary cause of coronary disease. But even if a reporter knew the truth, could he boldly state that Senator So-and-so had been eating too much meat, cheese, and ice cream, or drinking too much milk? Could he report that the Senator spent too much time sitting on his Senate seat, and didn’t get enough exercise? It will be many a long day before you read a newspaper article like that.

People, generally, don’t have the right perspective on the tension side of the coronary story for several good reasons. If you go only by what you read in the newspapers, or hear on radio and TV, you would have to come to the conclusion that coronary disease hits mainly those who are making their mark in the world.

The Tom Smiths and John Joneses don’t make the headlines when they have a coronary attack. The big politicians, the tycoons, and the socialites do. Despite all this, you can be absolutely sure that probably not more than two out of every hundred Americans who suffered an attack yesterday, or any day, were rich or prominent, or anything other than the everyday run of citizen. The overwhelming majority of coronary victims are not working any harder, or living under any more tension, than any average citizen of the United States.

Let’s not take it for granted that we are the only people in the world who live under tension. The lowliest member of any aboriginal tribe has his tensions and problems— his share of fear and worry. There are endless tribal taboos and the possible wrath of many gods, the enmity of a neighboring tribe, or problems of food, shelter, and storms. Wherever there is life, there is tension.

Certainly the people of Germany, Norway, Finland, or any of the strife-torn countries were under great emotional stress during two World Wars. Why, if tension is a primary factor in producing coronary disease, should their coronary death rates have been reduced so dramatically when they were forced, by circumstances, to live on a diet that was low in fats?

In Madrid, or Naples, or Gautemala City, the death rates from coronary disease are very much higher among the people who “have money.” In fact, every “economic” survey ever made has shown that the well-to-do in any city or nation are more subject to coronary disease than the poor! Are we to assume that strain and tension are exclusive crosses of all well-to-do, while the poor bear no such burden? Ridiculous! The rich can buy richer foods. It’s just as simple as that!

Is the Italian any less excitable than the average American? Why, then, do the Italians have only one-fourth of our coronary death rate? Are the white-collar workers of Japan—much more than their American counterparts—so free from worry and tension, or the problems that make up everyday life? Is that the reason their coronary death rate is less than one-fourth of ours?

For years now, almost everyone who survived a coronary attack has been told to “take it easy.” It is a convenient and ready rule for the doctor to lay down; but the victim and his family are apt to read in meanings which just aren’t there. The victim’s wife confides, “John has been doing too much . . . working too hard. That’s why he had a coronary attack.” The truth is, of course, that John could not have been stricken if his coronary arteries had not been partially filled with cholesterol and fat. Whatever part the tension played was secondary to that fact!

Yet, the tension excuse is always going to be with us, as long as human nature exists. By citing it, every coronary patient can regard himself as a martyr. The demons of tensions and overwork struck him down. He was just a good Joe, working day and night for his family, his service-club projects, and his church.

The coronary hit him because h gave too much of himself. Trying to send his two kids through school. Trying to be a good citizen and still make ends meet. Isn’t it much more comforting to blame tension, than to admit that we paid no attention to common food-facts, or that we didn’t have the will power to avoid eating too much hard fat? Let’s put tension in its rightful place—as a contributor that triggers a coronary attack when the coronary blood vessels have already been narrowed to the danger point by plaques.

Some three years ago, we had the first acceptable experimental evidence that mental and emotional stresses can and do raise the amount of cholesterol in the blood. The following year, more proof came from Col. Marshall E. Groover, Air Force heart specialist. He found that Air Force executives who were keeping their blood cholesterol at safe levels with exercise and diet, showed a definite rise in the fat and cholesterol content of the blood when they worked under stress and tension.

Early in 1958, studies made at the College of Medical Evangelists indicated that there was a significant increase in blood cholesterol among healthy male medical students during the week they wrote their examinations. The average age of these young men was twenty-five.

One individual’s cholesterol level almost doubled during his two-day examination period.this aspect of the stress story in a different way. They studied a large group of young men, aged 25 to 40, who already had diag-nosable hardening and narrowing of the coronary arteries.

They found that over 90 percent had been working intensely for long hours, over varying periods before they experienced the attack. One-fourth of the patients held two jobs, and another 46 percent worked at least sixty hours a week. So tension can temporarily raise the cholesterol level of the blood, and become a menace in certain cases.

If you find yourself under unusual stress or prolonged stress be sure to let your doctor know.

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The cholesterol article below is written from the position of cholesterol and although it may sound like a silly idea, I found that it hit me harder than other types of articles about cholesterol.

I hope that you enjoy it.

I think you know who I am, but you have rudely ignored me at various stages in your life; when your Dad had a triple bypass operation 20 years ago, he was shaken up and did actually greet me, but you, you decided to cold-shoulder me and my cousin Pension Man, rather feebly telling us that you were too young to have to consider nasty and boring things like cholesterol and pensions.

Well I’m back again and I refuse to be ignored this time. I’ve come to collect on those occasional chocolate bars and those not-so-occasional cakes and biscuits that you so love, which are also some of the worst types of food for building up cholesterol in your arteries.

This is now war and you have 3 choices:-

You can give up all those cakes and biscuits, reduce your alcohol and red meat consumption, eat less fat and less salt, eat more fruit and vegetables and do plenty of exercise. This probably seems to be very unpalatable but is actually the best long-term solution, although drugs may also be needed to reduce your cholesterol. Say NO to cholesterol now.

Alternatively you can rely on Statins and / or Fibrates for the rest of your life and carry on eating as you please. This option sounds like the easiest way to go but you are then relying on drugs for the rest of your life.

What about the side effects and possible health hazards? A report in the media recently said that people who are on Statins have a small chance of developing lung cancer, and the manufacturers of both Statins and Fibrates say that there are associated problems like stomach cramps, diarrhoea and constipation, etc and you may either have to change drugs or take additional drugs to counter these problems; then of course, these secondary drugs may well have additional unpleasant side effects and you might have to take additional drugs to counter those side effects.

Before you know it, you could be taking several drugs every day and your health could start to deteriorate. There also is the point that Statins cannot be prescribed for patients with heart problems – so if you’ve grown to rely on Statins and then find that you have heart problems, you would need to stop taking the Statins; now you find yourself considerably fatter, more reliant on all the wrong foods, and older, and then you’ve got to sort this problem out, all on your own!

A third alternative is to ignore me again and carry on as normal.

Initially when your cholesterol levels get above 20% and you have a well-man test, an alarm gets generated and then you will be asked to discuss your health with your local GP; you will probably be told that you now have a small chance of having a coronary or a brain hemorrhage over the next few years.

So you might actually be able to go through your whole life, and live to a good age, eating and drinking what you like, and even smoking sixty cigarettes a day. You do occasionally hear of people who do just that. But as you get older, it becomes more likely that something like a heart attack or brain hemorrhage will happen, and if it does, it will most likely devastate your life.

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We already know that practically every American male and many females over forty has noticeable narrowing of the coronary blood vessels due to deposits of fat and cholesterol in the artery walls. Some men may have a 30- or 40-percent coronary narrowing; in others, the may range to 70 or 80 percent.

There can be no doubt that you who have advanced coronary disease are sitting on a primed powder keg. Any significant increase in the amount of fat or cholesterol in your blood may choke up your diseased artery and cause a coronary attack.  You can’t afford the risk of increasing your cholesterol level.

The fact that mental stress can mobilize fat and cholesterol in the blood, means that stress relief should be part of your health cholesterol lowering tasks!

Colonel Groover shifted Air Force personnel who showed the cholesterol-rise of mental stress into less-stressful jobs. The blood picture improved rapidly when the men were relieved of high stress responsibility, or given work under a less-exacting boss. But, this is not always possible in civilian life, where a man can’t readily shift to another job, at a salary or benefits adequate to meet his family’s needs.

It is simple enough for a doctor to instruct us to “take things easier,” but very few of us have the opportunity to do so, let alone the will power or the temperament to carry it out. If you find that can’t “take it easy” through changing your habits or lifestyle, you should seek the help of a physician. Doctors can prescribe one or another of the new drugs to help calm you down, slow you up, ease your mental and emotional tension. However, you should try first to do this on your own as you want to learn how to calm from within instead of running for a pill.

There is also some glimmer of hope, that we may soon know the actual body mechanism through which mental stress pumps fat and cholesterol into the blood stream. Several research teams have presented convincing proof that the adrenal glands may be involved. It is, of course, well known that emotional stress causes the adrenal glands to discharge a powerful hormone into the blood. Apparently, among the many reactions produced, cholesterol is mobilized in the blood, probably by way of the liver.

This is a good thing to know. Scientists can now follow through, and perhaps come up with a drug which will block, or hold down this effect.

Meanwhile—don’t blame tension alone for causing coronary disease. No doubt; tension, plus a high hard-fat diet adds to the attack hazard, when a coronary blood vessel is narrowed with plaque. The danger may even be doubled. But the primary cause of a coronary attack is the sticky fat plaque.

So look to what goes on your knife and fork!

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