I used to think that high
cholesterol is a disease that affects overweight and older people. In the past few years, however, I seem to run
into more and more youngish (if I can call me and my peers this) and
seemingly fit people who complain about high cholesterol. Of course, we don't attribute anything bad
to ourselves or our lifestyles, mostly to our parents as a "hereditary thing". Recently, I read that over 100 million Americans have this condition and
are restricting their diets as a result.
Over 100 million! Aren’t there only 300 million or so people in the U.S? Hmm...
What is so bad about
cholesterol? Well it is not all evil. It is actually naturally produced in your body
to help you digest fat, make Vitamin D and certain hormones, and build cell
walls.
Then why is cholesterol associated
with heart diseases? First, we may take in a lot more than what we need. We actually make 80% of the cholesterol our bodies use and just need to take in 20% from food. Also, there are two kinds of cholesterol: LDL
and HDL, LDL being the bad guy, HDL is the good guy. LDL causes deposits on cell walls, making your artery walls
thicker. HDL actually
prevents this process.
To lower your LDL, you can
add these foods to your diet:
Oat meal and oat bran (not
instant oats please)
High-fiber fruits like
apples, pears, prunes
Barley
Kidney beans
Psyllium
Healthy nuts like walnuts,
almonds and others (remember to pre-soak them—see earlier post)
Omega 3 fatty acids
Here is a smoothie recipe that a friend of mine calls “The Cholesterol Buster”. It helped him lower his cholesterol
significantly over a 6-week time period:
The Cholesterol Buster
smoothie:
Put 1/2 a glass of orange
juice and a diced banana or peach into a 16 oz jar, cap tightly and shake. Then
add 1/3 cup raw rolled oats and 1 tablespoon ground flax meal. Cap once again,
shake, let sit for a minute.
(The smoothie can be frozen
and will stay cool for hours after coming out of the freezer.)
Have a healthy and happy
heart!
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