FitSugar -- Healthy, happy you.

5 Ways to Raise Healthy Cholesterol

FitSugar — Fri, 06 Jun 2008 13:00:00 -0700

There’s been some evidence suggesting that increasing HDL (aka the good cholesterol) can reduce the risk of heart attack and stroke — even without changes in LDL (aka the bad cholesterol). Harvard Women’s Health Watch suggests these five things people can do to raise their HDL levels:

Get aerobic exercise. Moderate to vigorous aerobic exercise can boost HDL by 5 to 10 percent. Aim for five 30-minute sessions per week.
Lose weight if you need to. If you’re overweight or obese, you can boost your HDL level by about 1 mg/dL for every 7 pounds lost, although any amount of weight loss will help.
If you smoke, quit. HDL levels rise by as much as 15 to 20 percent after you quit.
Eat a healthy diet. Avoid trans fats, which increase bad cholesterol and decrease good cholesterol. Avoid highly refined carbohydrates, such as white-flour products.
Consider medications. Niacin, available over the counter, is the most effective HDL-raising medication available. Niacin can be strong medicine — work with your clinician if you want to try it.

What's more? These tips will also improve your overall health, not just HDL levels. How many of them do you do?

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Breastfeeding Is Good for Your Baby's Future

FitSugar — Wed, 07 Nov 2007 13:30:00 -0800

When I was born, breastfeeding wasn't so common. Many new moms weren't encouraged to do so, and they often felt more than a little shy about the practice (even in this day and age many people get offended when they see a mom breastfeeding in public). Too bad that back then they didn't know the health benefits of breastfeeding.

Not only does breast milk offer excellent nutrition and help protect babies from infections, but a new study shows that babies who were nursed as infants have a lower body-mass index (BMI) and a higher level of HDL cholesterol (the good kind).

What's so great about that? Lower BMI and high HDL help to protect against cardiovascular disease. This study discovered that those who were breastfed as infants were 55 percent more likely to have high levels of HDL cholesterol than those who were bottle-fed.

Also, adults in the study who were breastfed had an average BMI of 26.1. Those who were bottle-fed had an average BMI of 26.9. If your BMI is higher than 25, you are considered overweight and at risk for heart problems. Although there wasn't a huge difference in the BMI numbers, even a slight reduction in BMI can greatly reduce your risk for cardiovascular disease.

Well now I'm even happier that I chose to breastfeed my girls.

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Just in Time for Cinco de Mayo: Corazon Chips

FitSugar — Fri, 04 May 2007 02:30:00 -0700

Cinco de Mayo screams chips and salsa. You can still have your chips and still stay healthy with these new chips...

Corazonas Chips are made with whole oats and plant sterols, proven cholesterol-reducing ingredients. Additionally, Corazonas Heart-Healthy Tortilla Chips are a good source of fiber, cholesterol-free, trans fat-free, low in saturated fat, all-natural, and depending on flavor, a low or reduced-sodium snack. Each of the three flavors have 140 calories for one ounce. You can actually buy them online from Amazon.com (packs of 12 and 24). If you want to get them in time for May 5th then visit Corazonas.com to find where you can buy them at a store near you.

Olé!

Fit's Tip: If you're hosting the party, throw out the bags before anyone gets there, they'll never know they're healthy.

The Good, The Bad and the Healthy: Cholesterol

FitSugar — Tue, 13 Feb 2007 11:05:41 -0800

It is Heart Health month, and yes I do think the American Heart Association picked February on purpose. It is hard for me to not think about my heart with every heart I cut out for the Valentines my daughters are making.

Cholesterol is a big factor in whether your heart is healthy or not. The truth is our bodies need cholesterol to make hormones, vitamin D and substances to digest food. Yet, they produce enough of this waxy, fat-like substance on their own. Since cholesterol is also in the foods you eat you need to watch your intake.

There are two kinds of cholesterol: HDL and LDL. We will start with the good kind - HDL. I find this is hard to remember which is which, but just think "healthy" for HDL. Basically HDL ushers LDL cholesterol to your liver where your body processes and disposes of it.

LDL (think "little devil" to help you remember) cholesterol leads to a buildup of cholesterol in arteries - since blood is basically watery and LDL is waxy so they don't mix (like oil and water). The higher the LDL level in your blood, the greater chance you have of getting heart disease. That is why it is bad.

Folks can have high cholesterol without knowing it, so it is a good idea to have your cholesterol levels checked in your 20s and then again every decade to make sure you are staying in healthy levels. Optimally you want your cholesterol to be under 200 mg/dL and you're at risk if it is 240 mg/dL. Anything in between is considered borderline.