Keep your body’s chemistry alkaline. Alkaline-producing foods, which include most fruits and vegetables, leave a digested ash where most of the elements that are beneficial – calcium, magnesium, potassium, and sodium - are positively charged ions. The residual ash of acid-producing goods, such as diary products, grains (including wheat), meats and sweets, contains a greater number of negatively charged ions, including chlorine, iodine and phosphorous. Infectious viruses live better in a acidic environment than in alkaline environment. People who keep their bodies in a predominantly alkaline state also have a reduced risk of developing degenerative and inflammatory conditions such as arthritis, cancer and heart disease.
A simple but highly effective way to help keep your body chemistry alkaline is to squeeze the juice of one-half of a ripe lemon in a glass of water upon rising in the morning. Sip the drink slowly while going through your morning routine. Throughout the day, for lunch, midday snacks and dinner, keep your body chemistry balanced by eating and drinking alkaline-forming foods and juices. Doing so will help prevent colds, flu, and other infectious diseases, as well as degenerative and inflammatory conditions.
Friday, March 28, 2008
Saturday, March 22, 2008
Health Tips On Food To Prevent Heart Disease
The factors in heart attack are numerous and include smoking and tobacco use, alcohol consumption, chronic dehydration, poor diet, diabetes, high blood pressure, high cholesterol levels, lack of exercise, and stress.
Beginning with food, a major step toward helping to prevent heart attacks, hardening of the arteries and a wide variety of other blood-vessel diseases is to cut out animal fats and foods fried in animal fats from your diet. On the other hand, lean red meats, especially if not overcooked, can actually be beneficial in the prevention of cardiovascular diseases, as they contain many essential nutrients that are not as widely available in other foods. It’s better to bake, broil, or steam your foods and always avoid overcooking. Another essential element to keep your body in good health is to keep your body chemistry alkaline which I will be posting some health tips in the next post.
Beginning with food, a major step toward helping to prevent heart attacks, hardening of the arteries and a wide variety of other blood-vessel diseases is to cut out animal fats and foods fried in animal fats from your diet. On the other hand, lean red meats, especially if not overcooked, can actually be beneficial in the prevention of cardiovascular diseases, as they contain many essential nutrients that are not as widely available in other foods. It’s better to bake, broil, or steam your foods and always avoid overcooking. Another essential element to keep your body in good health is to keep your body chemistry alkaline which I will be posting some health tips in the next post.
Thursday, March 20, 2008
Health Tips Related To Heart Disease
High Cholesterol will lead to cardiovascular disease, affecting the heart and blood vessels, is the number-one killer in America today. By far, the major cause of hearth attack and stroke is inflammation and hardening of the arteries, which results in a buildup of hard, fatty plaque deposits on the inner lining of blood vessels that supply nutrients and oxygen to the heart and the brain. There are many different factors that contribute to the blockage, breakdown, hardening, and inflammation of these critically important blood vessels. In the next few posts, will provide some important information to help to avoid becoming a casualty of the most fatal health disorder known to humans.
Thursday, March 13, 2008
Treatment Options for High Cholesterol
If you have been diagnosed with high cholesterol, there are many treatment options for you. At first, your health care practitioner may want to try lowering your cholesterol through modifying your life style. This would include exercising, eating healthier, smoking cessation, and weight loss. This may or may not work for you. If you are a diabetic or have some form of heart disease, your physician may want to take a more aggressive approach to lowering your cholesterol. If your cholesterol levels are still high after improving your lifestyle, cholesterol medication may be right for you. There are many prescription drugs on the market that are very effective at lowering your cholesterol levels. Depending on what your lipid profile looks like, you may take either one drug or a combination of drugs.
1. Statins
Also referred to as HMG-CoA reductase inhibitors, these are probably the most commonly prescribed drugs on the market. They work by inhibiting a protein called HMG-CoA reductase, which is an important molecule in making cholesterol. This class of drugs include: pravastatin (Pravachol ®), atorvastatin (Lipitor®), lovastatin (Mevacor®), rosuvastatin (Crestor®), simvastatin (Zocor®), and fluvastatin (Lescol®). These drugs are used to help every part of your lipid profile: they increase HDL (good cholesterol) up to 15 percent, decrease LDL (bad cholesterol) by 18 to 65 percent, and decrease triglycerides by 7 to 30 percent.
2. Bile Acid Resins
Also referred to as bile acid sequestrants, these drugs mainly come in a powdered form or pill form. These drugs work by binding bile acid in your intestines. The liver makes bile acids out of cholesterol. Bile acid resins bind bile acids in the gut and cause them to be excreted, therefore forcing the liver to “waste” more cholesterol by manufacturing replacement bile acids. The medications included in this class are cholestyramine (Questran®), colestipol (Colestid®), and colesevelam (WelChol®). Bile acid resins lower LDL between 15 to 30 percent, but only have a modest effect on HDL and do not affect triglyceride levels.
3. Fibrates
This class of prescription drugs is also referred to as fibric acid derivatives and includes gemfibrozil (Lopid®) and fenofibrate (Tricor®). They function by activating a receptor on cells called PPAR (peroxisome proliferator-activated receptors), which is responsible for regulating the cell’s use of carbohydrates and fats (like cholesterol). Therefore, by activating PPAR receptors, fibrates decrease cholesterol levels. Fibrates are particularly useful in lowering triglyceride levels (by up to 50 percent). Additionally, they can raise HDL levels between 10 to 20 percent. These drugs can also lower LDL levels (by between 5 to 20 percent), but they are not as effective in lowering LDL as they are at lowering triglycerides.
4. Absorption Inhibitors
Ezetimibe (Zetia®) is the only prescription drug currently in this class. This drug prevents cholesterol from being absorbed from the small intestine and entering the blood, thus lowering your cholesterol levels. Ezetimibe slightly lowers LDL and triglycerides and slightly raises HDL. Therefore, this drug may be taken with another drug (like a statin) to greatly lower cholesterol levels.
5. Niacin
This drug is available over-the-counter and as a prescription. On the pharmacy shelf, you may see it listed as vitamin B3 or nicotinic acid. As a prescription, it is marketed under Niaspan®. Niacin works by decreasing the amount of cholesterol made by the liver. It greatly raises HDL levels (up to 35 percent), lowers LDL levels and significantly lowers triglyceride levels (up to 50 percent).
1. Statins
Also referred to as HMG-CoA reductase inhibitors, these are probably the most commonly prescribed drugs on the market. They work by inhibiting a protein called HMG-CoA reductase, which is an important molecule in making cholesterol. This class of drugs include: pravastatin (Pravachol ®), atorvastatin (Lipitor®), lovastatin (Mevacor®), rosuvastatin (Crestor®), simvastatin (Zocor®), and fluvastatin (Lescol®). These drugs are used to help every part of your lipid profile: they increase HDL (good cholesterol) up to 15 percent, decrease LDL (bad cholesterol) by 18 to 65 percent, and decrease triglycerides by 7 to 30 percent.
2. Bile Acid Resins
Also referred to as bile acid sequestrants, these drugs mainly come in a powdered form or pill form. These drugs work by binding bile acid in your intestines. The liver makes bile acids out of cholesterol. Bile acid resins bind bile acids in the gut and cause them to be excreted, therefore forcing the liver to “waste” more cholesterol by manufacturing replacement bile acids. The medications included in this class are cholestyramine (Questran®), colestipol (Colestid®), and colesevelam (WelChol®). Bile acid resins lower LDL between 15 to 30 percent, but only have a modest effect on HDL and do not affect triglyceride levels.
3. Fibrates
This class of prescription drugs is also referred to as fibric acid derivatives and includes gemfibrozil (Lopid®) and fenofibrate (Tricor®). They function by activating a receptor on cells called PPAR (peroxisome proliferator-activated receptors), which is responsible for regulating the cell’s use of carbohydrates and fats (like cholesterol). Therefore, by activating PPAR receptors, fibrates decrease cholesterol levels. Fibrates are particularly useful in lowering triglyceride levels (by up to 50 percent). Additionally, they can raise HDL levels between 10 to 20 percent. These drugs can also lower LDL levels (by between 5 to 20 percent), but they are not as effective in lowering LDL as they are at lowering triglycerides.
4. Absorption Inhibitors
Ezetimibe (Zetia®) is the only prescription drug currently in this class. This drug prevents cholesterol from being absorbed from the small intestine and entering the blood, thus lowering your cholesterol levels. Ezetimibe slightly lowers LDL and triglycerides and slightly raises HDL. Therefore, this drug may be taken with another drug (like a statin) to greatly lower cholesterol levels.
5. Niacin
This drug is available over-the-counter and as a prescription. On the pharmacy shelf, you may see it listed as vitamin B3 or nicotinic acid. As a prescription, it is marketed under Niaspan®. Niacin works by decreasing the amount of cholesterol made by the liver. It greatly raises HDL levels (up to 35 percent), lowers LDL levels and significantly lowers triglyceride levels (up to 50 percent).
Friday, March 7, 2008
Beware The Dangers Of Low Cholesterol That Lead To Health Problems
High cholesterol can be a warning to heart trouble but low cholesterol can be a warning sign to disease.
People with low cholesterol are more likely to die from cancer and respiratory and digestive diseases – not diseases related to clogged arteries. One study found that people with low cholesterol also had low levels of antioxidants. Researchers believe low levels of antioxidants can put your body at greater risk of free radicals, which can damage cells and lead to disease.
Another research found that when elderly people have low cholesterol and low levels of albumin, a blood protein, their risk of dying goes up substantially.
Low cholesterol levels may also contribute to poor mental health. Women with very low levels of cholesterol were more likely to suffer from depression and anxiety. More than a third of the women with low cholesterol scored high on tests designed to measure degrees of depression. Only about one-fifth of the women in the study with higher levels of cholesterol scored high on the depression scale. So from today onwards, keep your health in good conditions by keeping the cholesterol level in desire range.
People with low cholesterol are more likely to die from cancer and respiratory and digestive diseases – not diseases related to clogged arteries. One study found that people with low cholesterol also had low levels of antioxidants. Researchers believe low levels of antioxidants can put your body at greater risk of free radicals, which can damage cells and lead to disease.
Another research found that when elderly people have low cholesterol and low levels of albumin, a blood protein, their risk of dying goes up substantially.
Low cholesterol levels may also contribute to poor mental health. Women with very low levels of cholesterol were more likely to suffer from depression and anxiety. More than a third of the women with low cholesterol scored high on tests designed to measure degrees of depression. Only about one-fifth of the women in the study with higher levels of cholesterol scored high on the depression scale. So from today onwards, keep your health in good conditions by keeping the cholesterol level in desire range.
Saturday, March 1, 2008
Healthy foods that cut cholesterol
Okay. Let’s change another health topic. The next health tips that I’m going to share with you is to reduce cholesterol level.
A good way to start is by maintaining a healthy weight and eating less saturated fat. Below are some of the food that you can consider.
Health tips 1: Take orange juice
A glass of orange juice at each meal can increase your good HDL. A recent study found that people who drank three glasses of orange juice a day raised there HDL levels by 21% and lowered the ratio of bad LDL to good HDL by 16 percent. Orange juice increased folate levels, too. Folate, also called folic acid, is known to fight homocysteine, a heart disease risk factor.
Health tips 2: Take Garlic
Studies found that garlic prevents the build up of fat and cholesterol in your arteries, reduces triglycerides, and increases HDL cholesterol. In one of those studies, eating a fresh clove of garlic every day for 16 weeks reduced cholesterol by an amazing 20 percent.
Health tips 3: Take Fiber
Finer helps lower LDL and may even raise HDL. Fiber also fills you up, leaving less room for meat and dairy product. Bran, oats, barley, wild rice, hominy, and flaxseed are good sources of fiber. Legumes, like split peas, black-eyed peas, lentils, kidney beans, and soybeans are another inexpensive way to ad fiber to your meal. Fruits and vegetables are loaded with fiber too.
Health tips 4: Take Yogurt
Some bacteria can be good to you. Yogurt fermented by certain kinds of bacterial may reduce your cholesterol levels. Experts have debated yogurt’s ability to lower cholesterol for years. Researchers analyzed the results of several studies and came to the conclusion that several fermented dairy products were effective in lowering cholesterol, including yogurt and milk products that contain bifidus or acidophilus. Other cholesterol-lowering foods include fermented vegetables and kefir, a fermented dairy product.
A good way to start is by maintaining a healthy weight and eating less saturated fat. Below are some of the food that you can consider.
Health tips 1: Take orange juice
A glass of orange juice at each meal can increase your good HDL. A recent study found that people who drank three glasses of orange juice a day raised there HDL levels by 21% and lowered the ratio of bad LDL to good HDL by 16 percent. Orange juice increased folate levels, too. Folate, also called folic acid, is known to fight homocysteine, a heart disease risk factor.
Health tips 2: Take Garlic
Studies found that garlic prevents the build up of fat and cholesterol in your arteries, reduces triglycerides, and increases HDL cholesterol. In one of those studies, eating a fresh clove of garlic every day for 16 weeks reduced cholesterol by an amazing 20 percent.
Health tips 3: Take Fiber
Finer helps lower LDL and may even raise HDL. Fiber also fills you up, leaving less room for meat and dairy product. Bran, oats, barley, wild rice, hominy, and flaxseed are good sources of fiber. Legumes, like split peas, black-eyed peas, lentils, kidney beans, and soybeans are another inexpensive way to ad fiber to your meal. Fruits and vegetables are loaded with fiber too.
Health tips 4: Take Yogurt
Some bacteria can be good to you. Yogurt fermented by certain kinds of bacterial may reduce your cholesterol levels. Experts have debated yogurt’s ability to lower cholesterol for years. Researchers analyzed the results of several studies and came to the conclusion that several fermented dairy products were effective in lowering cholesterol, including yogurt and milk products that contain bifidus or acidophilus. Other cholesterol-lowering foods include fermented vegetables and kefir, a fermented dairy product.
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