We’ve all seen a great deal about using vitamin supplements to increase your wellness and enhance your lifestyle. Supplements like Saw Palmetto, Ginkgo Biloba, Omega-3 among others have been touted as being beneficial for a lot of ailments and conditions. But, have you ever heard of Cinnamon as a well being supplement? Well, recent research has indicated that cinnamon may well be advantageous in a lot of areas and particularly with regard to diabetes and weight loss.

It turns out that Cinnamon seems to have the ability to lower blood sugar amounts and increase the body’s natural creation of insulin. One study found that there was almost a 30% drop in the participants glucose levels when consuming cinnamon. There was also a lowering of their triglyceride amounts. As you might know, starches and sugars are broken down within the body into glucose.  This glucose is then employed as energy to power your body and all it’s functions. The glucose can also be modified and stored as fat. Insulin helps manage the glucose level in the bloodstream. Unfortunately, over time, most all of us will lose some sensitivity to insulin because of age. This means that our blood glucose amounts can become greater then they should be. Cinnamon includes polyphenols or anti-oxidants that may help regulate glucose levels which might be valuable for those with diabetes or glucose intolerance. Actually, one researcher stated that cinnamon may perhaps have an effect almost as impressive as statin drugs which are employed by millions of individuals to lower cholesterol levels in the blood.

How should you get cinnamon into your regular diet? Well, researchers have suggested a half teaspoon per day but it’s important to use the right cinnamon. You will find two types of cinnamon – Ceylon and Cassia. The big difference between the two is that Ceylon cinnamon has far less coumarin in it then Cassia cinnamon does. Coumarin operates as an anti-coagulant and can cause liver inflammation if consumed in higher amounts. So, Ceylon cinnamon is the preferred cinnamon.  Nonetheless, coumarin isn’t water soluble so a water extract of cinnamon may possibly be the ideal approach. With some research you ought to be able to locate a cinnamon supplement that’s a water extract.

So, while you may hear a lot about a lot more exotic supplements like beta-sitosterol and omega-3 fish oil always remember that that favorite holiday spice, cinnamon, can be helpful too. Just be sure to use it in moderation and always in a water extract form not in the powdered form.

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What do you think about when you hear the words “low cholesterol diet?” If you’re like most people, the words that come to mind are “boring,” “tasteless,” “uninteresting” and so on.

Not all cholesterol lowering foods fit that description. A low cholesterol diet doesn’t mean you’ll never again enjoy interesting, tasty meals. Cholesterol lowering meals can include delicious foods, made in ways that may be new to you. There is endless room for experimenting and exploring interesting options you’ve never experienced.

It will be hard to cut back on food from animal products if you typically eat a lot of them. But remember, cholesterol comes mainly from animal-based foods, so your first step will be to look for alternatives in this nutrition category.

As you’re surely aware, red meat from beef contains a lot of cholesterol. There’s less in poultry, but still a lot more than fish. Certain kinds of fish, especially salmon, contain nutrients that actually lower the amount of cholesterol in your bloodstream. If you can replace red meat in your diet with fish several times a week, you’ll be well on your way to keeping your cholesterol under control.

The way you prepare meat and fish also makes a difference. Frying (especially deep-frying) is far less preferable than grilling, broiling, boiling, baking, or sautéing. It’s also a good idea to trim visible fat from red meat, and remove as much skin as you can from poultry.

The major alternatives to meat, of course, are vegetables and fruits. Some of these may already be part of your diet: lettuce, tomatoes, corn, bananas, apples, plums, peaches, etc. But if you spend some time roaming the produce aisle of your grocery store (or your local farmer’s market), you’ll undoubtedly notice veggies you’ve probably ignored before. Grocery stores now stock dozens of different kinds of fruits and vegetables they probably didn’t have when you were growing up and developing your eating habits.

You may be afraid to try new vegetables because you don’t know the best way to prepare them, and what other foods go with them. This is where the Internet and cable TV can give you plenty of ideas and new recipes. The “food gurus” on all the cooking shows make their living coming up with fresh ideas with unusual ingredients most people never consider. And you can always type the names of various vegetables into a search engine which will return information on dozens if not hundreds of recipes containing those ingredients.

Ditto for foods in the grain and nut categories. These generally contain little or no cholesterol (there are a few exceptions among the nuts). So whole grain breads and cereals are good choices for your heart-healthy, cholesterol-lowering diet.

For years, a lot of people avoided egg yolks because they supposedly had high concentrations of cholesterol. But recent research has found that yolks are generally okay. Of course, you can certainly stick with egg whites or cholesterol-free egg substitutes if you wish.

In summary, your choices are many and varied when it comes to finding cholesterol lowering foods that are both tasty and healthy.

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A new study in the United Kingdom seems to indicate that there can be several serious side effects to cholesterol lowering drugs that are used by millions of people worldwide.

Medications doctors prescribe to bring down cholesterol in your bloodstream are called statins. Doctors prescribe them for individuals who have hypercholesterolemia, or cholesterol levels that are greater than normal. While the body produces cholesterol naturally, unhealthy levels are usually due to lack of exercise and eating rich foods that contain a lot of fat.

There are several types of cholesterol. One type, known as LDL or low density lipoproteins, tends to attach itself to artery walls. This can cause a disorder called artherosclerosis, or narrowing of the arteries. Atherosclerosis is one of the most common causes of heart attacks and strokes.

High cholesterol also contributes to high blood pressure because your heart has to work harder to pump blood through your constricted blood vessels.

Statins inhibit an enzyme produced by your liver that creates cholesterol. But there’s a downside, according to the U.K. study. Extended use may eventually have a negative effect, and even, in some cases, result in liver failure.

The Nottingham project also suggested that statins can contribute to a disorder called myositis, or muscle inflammation. In addition to causing muscular pain, myositis also makes muscles weaker. As the condition progresses, it may eventually lead to a more serious condition known as rhabdomyolysis. With rhabdomyolysis, your muscle begins to degrade, producing a byproduct called myoglobin. Myoglobin passes through the kidneys and can trigger dangerous kidney problems.

According to the Nottingham study, extended statin use can also endanger eye health, causing cataracts to develop.

The study emphasized the importance of getting regular liver function tests done if you’re taking statins to lower your LDL cholesterol. Your blood should also be tested for any liklihood of kidney problems in the future.

But there’s also positive news from the study. Although it was found that side effects can happen, it was also determined that the overall risk was slight. When the possible side effects of cholesterol-reducing drugs are balanced against the risk of cardiovascular disease from high cholesterol and hypertension, taking statins makes sense when they’re prescribed by your doctor.

In recent years, doctors have been prescribing statins more often because the number of patients with obesity, which is a major risk factor for high cholesterol and heart disease, has been increasing at alarming rates.

Recently, computer programs have been developed to help doctors identify patients with the greatest liklihood of experiencing side effects someday. At-risk patients  should be monitored closely if it’s apparent that they need cholesterol lowering medications, but are also more likely to be subject to side effects.

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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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