Lowering Your Cholesterol

Soy Protein is Plant Protein. Soy beans have one of the best protein digestibilities among all protein sources. Soy beans also contain little or no fat. Being a plant protein, soy is free from steroids and antibiotics animal protein contains. 

Soy products are also a great source of other nutrients such as saponins, isoflavones, and phytosterols.
Saponins help support a healthy immune system. They also combine with cholesterol to avoid increased absorption
of cholesterol in the body. Phytosterols also help reduce the absorption of cholesterol in the body in the
same way saponins do.

Isoflavones are powerful antioxidants and prevent the effects of free radicals in the body. They prevent  
atherosclerosis or hardening of the arteries. This alone makes soy a miracle protein source in its own right.

Isoflavones, along with vitamins A,C, and E are among the front liners in the fight against disease –
they also counter the effects of pollution, and stress.

Vegetarians love soy bean as it provides a comparable – if not better – source of protein than that of animals.

Eating fiber has been shown to reduce the risk of heart disease. Fiber refers to complex carbohydrates that cannot be digested. The average American adult consumes between 12-17 grams of fiber daily. The American Dietetic Association recommends eating 20-35 grams of fiber (both soluble and insoluble) daily. It’s easy to consume more fiber if you are not eating enough.

For example: three-quarters of a cup of dried oat meal has 6 grams of fiber. A medium-sized apple has 3 grams. A half cup of kidney beans has 6 grams. And:

● Eat whole fruits instead of drinking fruit juices.

●  Replace white rice, bread, and pasta with brown rice and whole-grain products.

●  Snack on raw vegetables instead of chips, crackers, or chocolate bars.

●  Substitute legumes for meat two to three times per week in chili and soups.

·         Eat five servings daily from the fruit and vegetable group

·         Choose whole-grain cereals for breakfast

·         Include 3 servings of whole grain products daily

·         Eat more fresh fruit and vegetables for snacks

·         Eat fresh or dried fruit on breakfast cereal

·         Pack fruit and vegetables for lunch

·         Eat sandwiches topped with fresh tomatoes, cucumbers, lettuce, sprouts, green peppers, and onions or make salads with these ingredients

·         Make homemade soups with legumes, beans, and vegetables

·         Buy whole grain cereals, breads, and crackers with at least 3 grams of fiber per serving

·         Try popcorn for snacks

·         Drink plenty of fluids to help the fiber do its work

·         Don’t remove skins from fruits and vegetables.

Resveratrol came from the French paradox. Health researchers wondered why the French, who love creamy sauces, foie gras, and similarly high-fat foods, tend to live as long as people with better eating habits.

The French have an equally strong taste for red wines that contain resveratrol, a chemical compound proven to extend the lives of yeast cultures and fruit flies, and which may have similarly beneficial effects on humans by lowering cholesterol levels.

Resveratrol is produced naturally by grapes to fight off fungal diseases that can take hold when it’s damp outside. Could these same properties extend human life? I’m sure this will be studied. For now resveratrol, some call it a ‘nutraceutical’, can be purchased in tablet form.

Resveratrol is found primarily on grape skins, it is almost nonexistent in most white wines, which are fermented only after the skins are removed. The same is true of some mass-produced red wines that are filtered to remove the tannins, which can make recently bottled wines taste bitter. But filtering also eliminates the resveratrol.

One or two small glasses of red wine with the supper meal will probably be give you your daily supply of the nutraceutical.

 Some researchers say that grape juice from dark-purple, concord grapes has resveratrol in it. So taking a few small glasses of grape juice a day should keep you supplied without the alcohol of wine.

Beta-Sitosterol comes from soy or rice. It is a healthy plant oil, found in soybeans and rice. It can decrease the absorption of cholesterol in the digestive system and decrease the amount of cholesterol produced by the liver. Beta-Sitosterol decreases absorption by locking onto the fat molecules eaten and by blocking the fat molecule absorption gates in the intestines. The fats and cholesterol are then excreted rather than absorbed. A study in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition showed a 42% decease in cholesterol absorbed when taking beta-sitosterol before eating scrambled eggs. The liver actually manufactures more cholesterol than is typically absorbed from food. Beta-sitosterol acts on the liver enzymes in a way which inhibits cholesterol production. An important enzyme for the manufacture of cholesterol in the liver is broken down rapidly in the presence of beta-sitosterol. Cholesterol is also more easily broken down by the liver in the presence of beta-sitosterol. The specific liver enzymes which break down saturated fats are significantly more active. There are possibly even more benefits to taking beta-sitosterol including aiding in weight loss.Beta-Sitosterol can be purchased as a supplement - Beta-Sitosterol Complex in 300mg tablets. There might be medication interactions, so it is best to check with your medical doctor before trying this supplement.

It’s defined as a cluster of factors that put a person at risk for developing cardiovascular disease.  If you have: 

A waist size – 40 inches for men; 35 inches for women.

High Blood Pressure – greater than or equal to 130 mm Hg systolic (top number) or greater than or equal to 85 mg Hg diastolic (lower number) or taking medication for high blood pressure.

High triglycerides greater than 150 mg/dL or taking medication for high triglycerides.

Low HDL good cholesterol – less than 40 mg/dL for men less than 50 mg/dL for women or taking medication for low HDL.

High blood sugar – greater than or equal to 100 mg/dL or taking medication for blood sugar. Yes, in addition you may develop diabetes.

Obviously as our society becomes more and more obese, more and more people may be classified as being in the metabolic syndrome. A person is not necessarily in pain in the syndrome, but if s/he stays in this category long enough heart disease will continue within her or his body. It is an unhealthy state – one to avoid.

How to get out of it? Change your eating habits and exercise. After all you have your future health and well being to consider.

An apple a day keeps the doctor away. We’ve all heard that saying. Apples do contain certain nutrients that help prevent heart disease. Flavonoids like quercitin are known to help with antioxidant activity preventing the LDL bad cholesterol particles from becoming oxidized. In their oxidized state, the LDL particles are more able to penetrate the artery cellular wall and deposit cholesterol there; thus furthering heart disease.

A study just released has shown that adults who eat apples or applesauce or drink apple juice have a reduced risk for developing metabolic syndrome, a group of health problems that can be precursors to heart disease and diabetes. The research was gleaned from data collected between 1999 and 2004 in the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey, the largest food consumption and health database of the United States government. Those who consumed apple products were 27 per cent less likely to be diagnosed with metabolic syndrome, compared to those who don’t eat apple products. So all the vitamins and flavonoids in apples, and I’m sure in other fruits, have a very beneficial effect on preventing metabolic syndrome. Metabolic syndrome is a serious step towards developing more life-limiting heart and diabetic related problems.

Eating saturated fats like you find in meats can cause heart disease. That’s pretty much an established fact and is well known. But smoking cigarettes not only do they mess up your lungs, but they really cause problems with your arteries. When I read about all the toxins that are introduced into the blood from smoking - WOW! it scares me.

I was one of the fortunate ones in that at 14 I went in the woods with the other boys and tried a cigarette. Actually it was a little Italian cigar. After two puffs - it made me so sick that I lay on the couch and thought I was going to die. I was sick for at least an hour. That was enough for me. I never smoked again. 

If you smoke - read about what it puts in your blood. It will scare you smokeless! Mainly free radicals which can combine with LDL bad cholesterol, make it easier to penetrate the artery cell walls, and start the accumulation of cholesterol there.

From this point on it becomes a race - does lung cancer win or is the winner a heart attack? Either way you’re introducing yourself to a world of pain.

Smoking also lowers your HDL good cholesterol. In most cases, you want to eat or do things(like exercise) that will raise your HDL levels not lower them.

So do yourself a BIG favor and leave cigarettes alone.

 Atherosclerosis is defined as an abnormal inflammatory process inside artery walls as the result of complex interactions among “bad” cholesterol (LDL), platelets, calcium, and inflammatory cells. When the LDL particles find their way into the artery walls, the artery will bend out of shape and get larger. But as more and more cholesterol accumulates the artery wall will start to constrict bloodflow and a hard plaque will develop. 

Atherosclerosis can be divided into 5 different stages. Stage three occurs when the endothelium (the outer lining of the artery which touches the bloodstream) becomes dysfunctional. It has been invaded by so many LDL particles it is now compromised. LDL cholesterol continues to invade but now the body itself joins the attack. After letting in the bad cholesterol, the body decreases its production of nitric oxide, which causes the arteries to constrict rather than relax in response to injury.

This is really a problem in the later stages of atherosclerosis when the arteries are partially blocked. The dysfunctional endothelium releases free radicals which further damage the artery walls. The artery then releases blood-clotting factors. The results are clotting, and a massive inflammatory response at the site where the endothelium is breached.

In the next stages, parts of the plaque may break free and clog the bloodstream causing a clot and death to the heart muscle fed by this artery. This results in a heart attack.

In any case in these stages the arteries become hard and inflexible, bloodflow is decreased to the heart muscle and simple tasks become more and more difficult to do. This is the result of years of eating the wrong foods, smoking, drinking, and lack of exercise. Just about anyone can get to this stage.

Today we know enough about the causes of heart disease that we can prevent atherosclerosis by simple life-style changes, eating a heart-healthy diet, and exercise.

Yesterday I mentioned that omega-6 fatty acids were high in vegetable oils, particularly corn, sunflower, safflower, soy, and cottonseed oils. These are used in the processing of fast foods. So there is another reason to cut back on fast foods.The imbalance between omega-3 and omega-6 fatty acids is believed to give rise to inflammatory responses. Omega-3 is considered anti-inflammatory whereas omega-6 is the opposite. Early man had a diet that balanced the two. But today we consume more omega-6 fatty acids then we do omega-3, thus our diets put us out of balance.Part of the atherosclerotic process (hardening of the arteries) is thought to be caused by an inflammatory response. So this imbalance can hasten heart disease as well as other diseases.In general, you can cut down on omega-6 levels by reducing your consumption of processed and fast foods and polyunsaturated vegetable oils (corn, sunflower, safflower, soy, and cottonseed, for example). At home, use extra-virgin olive oil for cooking and in salad dressings. Your body and mind will thank you.Olive oil positively affects HDL good cholesterol levels (raises them) and lowers LDL bad cholesterol levels. There are many questions about olive oil that is: what to buy, which one is better, etc. I’ll make that the subject of a future post.

We hear the (health) words  omega-3 and omega-6 a lot. But what are they? They are important to promoting heart health as well as many other health related problems.

Omega-3 and omega-6 fatty acids are essential which means we can’t make them in our bodies. We have to get them from our diets. Both are polyunsaturated fatty acids (good fats) and have different chemical structures.

Omega-3 can be obtained from the fat of cold water fish such as salmon, sardines, herring, mackerel, black cod, and bluefish. There are two critical omega-3 fatty acids, (eicosapentaenoic acid, called EPA and docosahexaenoic or DHA), that the body needs. EPA and DHA are the building blocks for hormones that control immune function, blood clotting, and cell growth as well as components of cell membranes.

Walnuts and flaxseeds contain a precursor omega-3 (alpha-linolenic acid called ALA) that the body must convert to EPA and DHA.

Sources of omega-6 fatty acids are numerous in modern diets. They are found in seeds and nuts, and the oils extracted from them. Refined vegetable oils, such as soy oil, are used in most of the snack foods, cookies, crackers, and sweets in the American diet as well as in fast food. Soybean oil alone is now so ubiquitous in fast foods and processed foods that an astounding 20 percent of the calories in the American diet are estimated to come from this single source.

Here’s where another fast-food rub comes in. In the US as well as many other developed countries we eat too many omega-6 fatty acids - our diets are out of balance. We need more omega-3. In ancient times, man got as many omega-3’s as he got omega-6’s. But today this is no longer true. We should have a 1 to 1 balance of these fatty acids. 

Researchers think that many diseases of which one is heart disease, are brought about by this imbalance.