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Health Tips for Life:
Tip 1: The cholesterol myths (good and bad fats)
Cholesterol comes from your liver. Dietary cholesterol, i.e. foods that contain cholesterol in them, raise your blood cholesterol very little.
The cause of high cholesterol is due to saturated fat in the diet, which is converted to LDL (bad) cholesterol almost entirely by your liver.
Saturated fat is a huge health risk for heart disease. Deceptive product labelling might say 'Cholesterol Free' on the front, but could be full of saturated fat when you examine the nutrition label.
Trans-Fats are the worst saturated fats ever. This is a super saturated fat which boost your cholesterol significantly. These can be easily spotted on ingredient lists as "PARTIALLY HYDROGINATED" or "HYDROGINATED" ANYTHING.
There are companies like skippy that will advertise cholesterol free on their peanut butter (of course it is since peanuts are vegetarian product), but the put partially hydrogenated oils in it to help shelf life.
This product is horrible for your cholesterol. Never believe what's on the front label of anything! Know your ingredients.
Common Sources of trans-fats are packaged baked goods like cookies, crackers, some cerial, frozen dinners, some butters & margerines, even some granola bars labelled as if they were healthy, or natural.
As an example of the effect, my cholesterol was 260, with a bad ratio, I cut out trans-fats, and saturated fats completely, and my cholesterol went to 160 in 6 months, and the ratio improved significantly.
Sources of saturated fats:
Hydroginated oils, Cheese, Whole & 2% milk, Meats, Butter, Cream cheese, Sour cream, etc. (I know, all the good stuff)
The Good fats:
There are many fats that actually raise your good cholesterol(HDL) and slightly lower your LDL. These are mono and poly unsaturated fats, the best sources are:
Olive Oil, Enova Oil, Nuts, Seeds, Avacados, Omega3 fish like salmon, Olives,
Tip 2: The super foods
This list is compiled through my research but confirmed by a recent harvard study on nutrition, which listed these same foods as superfoods. These foods should be present in at least one serving in every meal if possible. What makes these foods superfoods are a variety of properties, from good fats, to nutrients, to essential protein content, here's the list:
Avocados - mono/poly fat
Black Olives - mono/poly fat
Walnuts - mono/poly fat
Salmon - Omega3s', mono/poly fat
Halibut - Omega3s', mono/poly fat
Broccoli - anti occidents
Cauliflower - anti occidents
Spinach - anti occidents, has high occillates though
Onion - anti occidents
Tomato - anti occidents
Green Tea & All Tea - anti occidents
Flaxseed - mono/poly fat
Olive Oil - mono/poly fat
Wheat Germ - mono/poly fat
Ginger
Soy - Tofu/Soymilk/Edimame
Wheat Grass - Perfect nutrient content
Tip 3: Blood Pressure
High blood pressure can be truly unique in each individual, however there are common underlying causes that are just starting to be discovered.
Obviously weight and excercise are critical. Excercise has treamendous benefist on blood pressure. 80% of the benefit of excercise can be gained from as little as 20% of a common recommeded excercise regimen. Treadmill walking uphill for 20 minutes, 3 times a week can drop values significantly.
The nitric oxide connection:
There is another set of key factors that regulate blood pressure, that is the nitric oxide chain. Blood pressure is regulated by the dialation and constriction of blood vessels throughout the bosy. The key mechanism is as follows:
Nitric Oxide Synthase cells in the endothelium of blood vessels produce nitric oxide(NO), which is then absorbed into the outer muscular cells of the blood vessels. This signals the vessels to relax and blood pressure is lowered.
A deficinecy in either the ability to produce NO, or absorb NO could be an underlying factor causing hypertension. Certain Nitric Oxide donors can be taken as a suppliment to try to help this situation. The two common nitric oxide donors commonly available
are L-Arginine, and L-Citrulline. Actually in the body L-Citrulline is converted to L-Arginine, then to NO. L-Citrulline is probably the better one to take though, since it is more easily absorbed by the degestive system. L-Arginine and L-Citrulline are natural amino acids and are available at most health food / vitamin stores.
Tip 4: Not all carbs are created equal
Despite the low carb craze, there are many carbs that are good for you. Carbs are the bodies primary source of energy. Complex carbohydrates are excellent for you. It's the simple carbs that are the enemy. Simple carbs in this
definition are those with a high glycemic index. This is a measure of how quickly they will break down into sugar. Eating an overabundance of high index carbs can actually lead to type 2 diabetes. Each time these carbs are consumed,
blood sugar rises quickly. In order to compensate you body must release insulin to control blood sugar levels. This repeated cycle can lead to insulin resistance, the cause of type 2 diabetes.
Simple Carbs:
Candy, honey, pop, donuts, sweetened cereal, cakes, sweet fruit, fruit juice, white sugar, brown sugar,
corn syrup, maple syrup, molasses, sucrose, glucose, fructose, dextrose, and other "...ose" variations,
white rice, white bread, sweetened beverages, potatos, pasta, milk, yogurt, honey.
Complex Carbs:
Legumes, such as lentils, peas and beans, Vegetables, such as beets, broccoli, cabbage, carrots, cauliflower,
corn, lettuce, peppers, Grains, nuts and seeds, including whole-grain bread, pasta, cereal and flour.
Focus your diet on eating only complex carbs, which will help you lose weight and avoid diabetes.
Other Carb Facts:
Simple carbs (including fructose from fruit) promote the formation of VLDL triglycerides(bad cholesterol), while refined
or complex carbs don't, so in contrast to complex carbs, simple carbs raise the risk for cardiovascular
disease.
Simple carbs decrease omega 3 Essential Fatty Acids (EFAs) and germanium levels (which have
blood thinning properties), and complex carbs support or enhance both.
Unlike simple carbs, complex carbs are fiber-rich, which:
- improves digestive health and transit time,
- may result in lower absorption / bioavailability of specific minerals, particularly calcium, iron, zinc...
- slows glycogen conversion, which better stabilizes blood sugar.
Unlike complex carbs, simple carbs (sweets) can cause pain when in contact with exposed dental roots.
Simple carbs - unlike complex carbs - trigger more medical symptoms such as headaches, fatigue,
depression, drowsiness, skin eruptions, mucus / throat discomfort, or sugar withdrawal symptoms.
Simple carbs - unlike complex carbs - can be a causative, or contributing factor with mood disorders,
and - particularly with children - behavioral problems. (see also Acu-Cell Disorders "ADD / ADHD"
and Acu-Cell "Chocolate").
According to some research, simple carbs - unlike complex carbs - promote free radicals.
Simple carbs - unlike complex carbs - effect an opposing change in hyper / hypoglycemics, resulting
in a higher sodium / potassium ratio with hyperglycemics, and a higher potassium / sodium ratio with
hypoglycemics, which can subsequently lead to an increase in blood pressure with the former, and a
decrease in blood pressure with the latter.
In contrast to complex carbs, ingesting simple carbs reduces the WBC's ability to destroy bacteria
(phagocytosis). In sugar-intolerant types, this can lead to increased pus formation, and in patients
with leukemia to an increased WBC count. There is also an inhibiting effect on the immune system
by the formation of AGE's (advanced glycosylation end product).
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