“The man who can drive himself further once the effort gets painful is the man who will win.”

-Roger Bannister

            Exercise is important.  You need to exercise.  But why?  It is commonly understood that exercise keeps you “in shape” and helps lose weight.  But what else can it do for you?  The following points are some benefits of exercise that are not as commonly known:

• Exercise Increases HDL cholesterol—when individuals go from a relatively sedentary lifestyle to moderate activity, they are able to increase HDL by approximately 5 points.
• Exercise decreases triglycerides—dropping triglycerides by up to 100 points is possible if exercise is sustained and consistent, especially when exercise leads to weight loss.
• Exercise decreases LDL cholesterol and LDL particle number—Reductions of up to 10% are common.
• Exercise increases LDL particle size—increasing LDL particle size goes hand-in-hand with raising HDL cholesterol.
• Exercise lowers blood pressure—blood pressure can decrease 2 to 4 mm when exercise is sustained and consistent.
• Exercise lowers blood sugar—individuals with a borderline diabetic tendency can increase sensitivity to insulin by consistent physical activity.
• Exercise helps control weight—Weight loss amplifies all of the above mentioned lipoprotein benefits and lowers blood sugar as well.

Click here to read more!

“Age does not depend upon years, but upon temperament and health.  Some men are born old, and some never grow so.”

-Tyron Edwards

 Our last blood tests resulted in several questions about triglycerides and what can be done to lower those levels.  Nutritionist Gay Riley, MS, RD, CCN, gives some excellent guidelines and tips on what can be done on a dietary level to lower triglycerides.

Reduction and Avoidance of:

• High Sugar
• Refined, processed, and packaged foods
• Alcohol
• Sugary beverages

Foods to Increase:

• Fresh produce (good rule-of-thumb is two vegetables for every fruit)
• Berries
• Citrus
• Melon
• High fiber carbohydrates
  • Green leafy vegetables
  • Tomatoes
  • Other non-starchy vegetables (beans, lentils, sweet potato, acorn squash, etc)

 To read more on how to control and/or lower triglycerides, click here.

*Walk at LEAST 20 minutes a day and then continue to increase your fitness level.

*Park and Walk—park farther away from your destination and walk there!

*Crunch by the bed—before getting into bed, do some crunches every night.

“Physical fitness is not only one of the most important keys to a healthy body, it is the basis of dynamic and creative intellectual activity.”

-John F. Kennedy

A recently published article in the Associated Press refers to a new research study that states that, “the odds of obesity appear stacked against black and Hispanic children starting even before birth.” 

Researchers examined more than a dozen circumstances that have the potential to increase chances of obesity, and almost all of them were more common in black and Hispanic children.  These factors included eating and sleeping habits in infancy and early childhood and mothers smoking during pregnancy.

Some of the risk factors that were examined included: mothers smoking during pregnancy; unusually rapid weight gain in young infants; starting solid food before 4 months; children sleeping less than 12 hours daily between 6 months and 2 years; and allowing very young kids to have sugary drinks, fast-food, and/or TVs in their rooms. 

In a separate study researchers found signs of inflammation in obese children as young as 3 years old.  These high levels were more common in blacks and Hispanics.  These kinds of inflammatory markers linked with obesity have been shown to increase chances for developing heart disease.  University of North Carolina researcher Asheley Cockrell Skinner said that these results suggest that 3-year-olds with inflammation might already have artery changes that could make them more susceptible to later heart problems.

Click here to read more!

“Take care of your body.  It’s the only place you have to live.”

-Jim Rohn

Last weeks’ blog post gave some dietary tips on how to lower triglycerides.  We now want to give a couple of ideas of how to raise HDL.  According to an article published by Track Your Plaque, low HDL is the most common cause of heart disease (generally accompanied by small LDL particles). Higher levels of HDL can reduce the risk of heart disease as well as help decrease plaque.

So, how do we raise our HDL levels?

• Choose foods rich in monounsaturated fatty acids (raw nuts, olive oil, etc.)
• Select less sugar-raising foods
• Increase protein intake
• Exercise and weight loss (if you’re not within a healthy weight range.
• Fish oil—Omega-3 fatty acids can raise HDL, although it is much more effective for correcting lipoprotein abnormalities that accompany low HDL (small LDL, increased VLDL, etc—“bad” cholesterols)
• Chocolate—A Penn State University study showed that a combination of 22 grams of cocoa powder and 16 grams of dark chocolate per day raised HDL 4%.  Don’t overdo the chocolate, of course.  While it does have some good stuff it also has a good amount of saturated fat and sugar.  Try to find dark chocolates that have cocoa or cocoa mass (not sugar) as the first ingredient

Because vitamin D is so cheap and so clearly reduces all-cause mortality, I can say this with great certainty: Vitamin D represents the single most cost-effective medical intervention in the United States.”

-Dr. Greg Plotnikoff, Medical Director, Abbott Northwestern Hospital