• Home
    • Recipe Blog
    • Other Recipes Blog
  • All About Me
    • What Amuses Me!
    • What Inspires Me!
    • What's On My Mind
    • My Photography >
      • Yoga
      • Dale County Lake
      • Around Town
      • It's All about a Train
      • My Happy Place >
        • The Deck and Backyard
        • Front Deck
        • Dining Room
        • Our Kitchen
    • Special Moments >
      • The Final Days
      • No Credit ... No Blame
      • My Mother's Wit and Wisdom
  SimplyWyse

A Little Review

2/16/2012

0 Comments

 
Over the last several years high cholesterol news has been abundant - from television commercials and magazines promoting statin drugs (be sure to read the side effects) to websites promoting the natural way to reduce the unwanted numbers. It’s funny, to me anyway, that often people think taking a statin drug releases them from all danger without any lifestyle changes. That just plain isn’t so. Even the commercials and ads say - often in small print or at the end of an ad - that a healthy diet and exercise is also required. Funny, don’t you think, that often that little blurb isn’t heard or read. Of course it’s easier to pop a pill and continue doing what has always been done but whether you take statin drugs or not a lifestyle change is necessary.

I thought I’d make a list of those things you can do to get you started toward a healthier lifestyle ... now if you’re already there and your numbers are in the normal range, feel free to share a comment on how and/or what you did!

  1. Eat oatmeal, oat bran, and other high fiber foods - so skip the white bread
  2. Eat salmon and other healthy fishes - grill or broil / avoid fats
  3. Almonds, walnuts, and other nuts ... raw is wonderful or roast them yourself - recipe below
  4. Add olive oil to your diet
  5. Start taking fish oil (I take one MegaRed), one CoQ10, and 500 - 1000mg of niacin at bedtime (cholesterol forms while you sleep)
  6. Eat more fruits and vegetables - fruits and vegetables contain both soluble and insoluble fiber. Neither type is digested by our bodies, but soluble fiber reduces the absorption of cholesterol by binding bile where cholesterol levels are high. It is estimated that eating 5 to 10 grams of soluble fiber per day can decrease LDL cholesterol by 5%.
  7. Look for foods fortified with sterols or stanols — substances found in plants that help block the absorption of cholesterol
  8. Avoid transfats and those foods with high saturated fats
  9. Reduce or eliminate, if possible, processed foods - let’s not let science create our foods!!
  10. Get off the couch and get active - even taking a walk helps
  11. Think eggs are bad? Think again. Eggs are nearly perfect, however, if you are struggling to improve your cholesterol numbers limit your eggs to 3 - 5 a week and/or use an egg whites instead - no cholesterol there. If you prefer whole eggs, just go vegetarian the rest of the day and you're good. Be sure to check the nutritional analysis ... not all eggs are created equal!
Want to go vegetarian for a bit or for good, be sure to check out Vegetarian Times. It's a great place to get new and exciting vegetable recipes!

Doing well and need some encouragement and recipes? Visit Jamie Oliver’s website. While you're there, join the Food Revolution!

So taking high cholesterol on is easier than you think ... take control of your own health! Own it! Doctors can be wonderful, but remember they work for you!

Got something to share? Please leave a comment!

Oh, here's the recipe for homemade roasted nuts ...

Lightly spray a 9 x 13 pan with cooking spray (I use the butter flavored). Toss in some raw nuts of any kind and spray the nuts with cooking spray; sprinkle with popcorn salt, if you want, and roast in a 300 degree oven stirring often until done the way you like them. Easy, huh? Roasting your own allows you to control the oil and salt making them healthier than store purchased ones. You can also just heat them in a heavy frying pan with NO oil for a lovely roasted flavor.
0 Comments



Leave a Reply.

    I am ...

    ... a former blogger for a health site, which means eating healthy aka heart smart which has become a passion for me. I will start at the beginning when I first discovered I had high cholesterol.

    Blogger's Note: First and foremost, please do not go off any meds if you are currently taking something for high cholesterol! It is critical that you follow your doctor’s orders. I am NOT a doctor nor am I experienced enough to provide you with advice. 

    This blog is simply my journal of how I lowered my cholesterol. I am working with a doctor ... but, should you ask him he’d probably say he worked for me, which is true and should be ... in my opinion.
     
    The things I have changed have worked for me and may work for you, but as I said, I’m not telling you to stop taking any meds your physician has prescribed for you, but to talk to him about some options you are willing to consider.

    Loading

    Archives

    July 2012
    June 2012
    May 2012
    April 2012
    March 2012
    February 2012
    January 2012

    Categories

    All
    Almond Milk
    Balance
    Basil
    Beans
    Blackstrap Molasses
    Bread
    Breads
    Breakfast
    Breathe
    Budget
    Burgers
    Desserts
    Disease
    Doctors
    Edamame
    Exercise
    Flexitarian
    Food Pyramid
    Football
    Fruit
    Garlic
    Great Taste No Pain
    Grilling
    Hardee
    Hdl
    Healthy Ways
    High Cholesterol
    Holiday
    Holidays
    Hospitalization
    Jamie Oliver
    Journey
    Joy Bauer
    Junk Food
    Kid-Friendly
    Ldl
    Lowfat
    Lunch
    Meat
    Menus
    Msnbc
    New Year's
    Oatmeal
    Organic
    Pizza
    Popcorn
    Probiotics
    P.T. Barnum
    Recipe
    Recipes
    Rice Milk
    Salad
    Salads
    Sherry Brescia
    Shopping
    Simplify
    Smart Choices
    Snacks
    Soymilk
    Statin Drugs
    Statins
    Stress
    Stretching
    Sugar
    Sugars
    Summer
    Super Bowl
    Supplements
    Taichi
    Tailgating
    Thanksgiving
    The Tao Of Pooh
    Thirst
    Tomatoes
    Triglycerides
    Ultra-pasteurized Milk
    Valentine's Day
    Vegetables
    Vegetarian
    Walk
    Water
    Weight
    Wiifit
    Working Cows Dairy
    Yoga
    Yogurt
    Zen Habits
    Zucchini
    Zumba

    RSS Feed

Copyright 2012 / SimplyWyse
  • Home
    • Recipe Blog
    • Other Recipes Blog
  • All About Me
    • What Amuses Me!
    • What Inspires Me!
    • What's On My Mind
    • My Photography >
      • Yoga
      • Dale County Lake
      • Around Town
      • It's All about a Train
      • My Happy Place >
        • The Deck and Backyard
        • Front Deck
        • Dining Room
        • Our Kitchen
    • Special Moments >
      • The Final Days
      • No Credit ... No Blame
      • My Mother's Wit and Wisdom