Your eating habits can contribute to improved cholesterol levels.

Key Points

• Eat fish at least two times each week.

• Eat fiber-rich foods, including a variety of fruits and vegetables (with skin).

• Choose whole grain foods instead of refined grain foods.

• When eating nuts, choose unsalted and non-sugared varieties.

• Choose unsaturated fats instead of saturated fat and trans fat.

• Limit red meat and foods high in saturated fat (whole-milk dairy products, cheese and ice cream).

• Check food labels and ingredient list for trans fat. Watch out for partially hydrogenated oils.

Foods to Promote Healthier Cholesterol

• Olive Oil

• Canola Oil

• Avocados

• Nuts: Walnuts, Almonds, Pecans

• Flax Seeds

• Fish: Salmon, Tuna, Halibut

• Whole Grain Foods

• Beans and Legumes

• Vegetables and Fruits

Foods to Avoid/Limit for Healthier Cholesterol

• Commerically Prepared Baked Goods: Cookies, Brownies, Crackers, etc.

• Butter

• Whole Milk

• Margarines w/ Trans Fat

• Red Meat, Sausage, Pork, Bacon, Processed Meats

• High-fat Cheeses

• Poultry eaten w/ Skin

• Fried Foods: French Fries, Donuts, etc.

• Pastries, Muffins, Cakes, etc.

Sources:

Harvard School of Public Health: Fats and Cholesterol: Out with the Bad, In with the Good

Oregon State University: Linus Pauling Institute: Fiber

MayoClinic.com: Top 5 Foods to Lower Your Cholesterol Numbers

Other Posts You Might Like:

• New Guidelines for School Lunches
• Healthy Eating Plate
• My Wife is the Best
• Eat Breakfast

It’s Valentine’s Day. Have a great one spending it with people you love. Do something for your own heart too: Exercise.

Exercise is one of those rare things where the hype actually meets reality. Next to not smoking, getting regular physical activity is arguably the best thing you can do for your health.

It lowers the risk of heart disease, diabetes, stroke, high blood pressure, osteoporosis, and certain cancers, and also can help control stress and boost mood.

– Harvard School of Public Health: The Nutrition Source: Staying Active

Other Posts You Might Like:

• How to Reduce Risk of Heart Disease
• Exercise is NOT a Waste of Time
• You Need Your Heart and It Needs You
• Quick Thought on Exercise

These are seven things you CAN control to reduce your risk for developing heart disease. The Simple 7 is brought to you by the American Heart Association.

Other Posts You Might Like:

• How a Healthy Lifestyle Helps You
• Things You Can Control
• Health Risks of Overweight and Obesity
• Benefits vs. Risks of Triathlon

I know where I want my heart disease risk to be.  You?

[Source: Harvard School of Public Health: Take Heart, underline added].

Other Posts You Might Like:

• The Simple 7
• Benefits vs. Risks of Triathlon
• Risk Factors for Heart Disease and How To Improve Them
• Healthy Monday – Heart Disease Risk

The heart fascinates me.  Always has.  Always will.  Let’s take care of it. 

Image Source¹.

1. William D. McArdle, Frank I. Katch and Victor L. Katch, Exercise Physiology: Energy, Nutrition, and Human Performance, 6^th ed (Baltimore: Lippincott Williams and Wilkins, 2007): 317.

Other Posts You Might Like:

• Calcium Supplements and Heart Attack Risk
• How a Healthy Lifestyle Helps You
• How to Reduce Risk of Heart Disease
• Health Risks of Overweight and Obesity

Important message for women and everyone else to take better care of your heart.  Read more from Stacey Shipman here and also, don’t forget to check out Go Red for Women. 

Other Posts You Might Like:

• It’s YOUR Journey
• The D Word
• Frustrating Time of Year
• Make a Better Choice

“When one considers that heart disease is THE likeliest thing to kill an American, it’s hard to see that an article would only highlight the risk of these sports. Improving one’s diet and engaging in cardiovascular exercises are the two primary ways of naturally and dramatically reducing the risk of heart disease.  I posit that the benefits FAR outweigh the risk.”

– Gabriel Anderson (via here) on the risks of participating in triathlons vs. the benefits. 

[Full article here].

Other Posts You Might Like:

• How a Healthy Lifestyle Helps You
• Get Off the Couch
• Exercise, Healthy Eating, Potassium, Magnesium and Zinc
• Aqua Triathlon Race Recap

A few weeks ago I won a giveaway from Living Healthy in the Real World.  The giveaway included the book The Healthiest Kid in the Neighborhood.  I flipped through it real fast when I got it and saw the above picture.  Thought it was worth sharing, along with this excerpt:

“The medical truism ‘You’re only as healthy as your arteries’ used to be what every practitioner of geriatrics advised senior citizens.  Since the recent findings that coronary artery disease is occuring at a younger and younger age, this advice has also become a favorite of pediatricians.  Studies reveal that over 70 percent of twelve-year-olds already show the beginning stages of hardening of the arteries.”¹

 Something to think about, right?

I’ve heard good things about this book and I look forward to reading it and sharing more about it.

1. William Sears, M.D., et.al, The Healthiest Kid in the Neighborhood (New York: Little, Brown and Company, 2006), 100-101.

Other Posts You Might Like:

• How to Help Kids Develop Healthy Habits
• Healthier Habits for Kids
• Healthy Monday – Heart Disease Risk
• Tips for Parents

To those who believe exercise is a waste of time:  It’s not. 

[Note: when I say "exercise" I mean in all of its forms and also include all physical activity].

While evidence may point to eating habits having a greater effect on weight loss than exercise alone, exercise should not be brushed aside. 

Honestly, I get sick of hearing these new “diets” that promote weight loss without any form of exercise being done.  Look, exercising is hard work and if you really want to be healthy, and not just “skinny,” or less heavy, you need exercise, in all of its forms.

Yeah, what you put into your body is important.  No question. 

But here’s the thing, just eating healthier can’t provide resistance to strengthen our muscles.  Better eating habits can’t strengthen our heart and cardiovascular system.  Better eating habits can’t help us get more flexible.  Yes, eating habits can help provide good fuel/nutrients for all these activities, but alone can’t provide all the benefits exercise can.

Beyond the physical aspect of exercise is the mental aspect.  Exercise is a great way to relieve stress and anxiety.  Exercise can also provide a feeling of satisfaction.  It just feels good!

It seems to me that authors these days will write anything to sell a book, including telling the world that exercise is not necessary to lose weight.  Well, they are right, you don’t need exercise to lose weight, but it should be included in your healthier lifestyle.  There’s more to being healthy than just weighing less and being skinny-as-a-rail. 

It’s what’s going inside that matters more than what people are saying about how you look on the outside. 

To lose weight some forms of exercise will be better than others.  Walking at 3 mph for 30 minutes probably won’t cut it.  Yeah, it’s better than nothing, but strength training, interval training, etc. will be more beneficial.  Better yet, do it all and change it up on different days. 

Again, there’s no question that what you eat matters.  Absolutely no question.  But please, do not ever say that exercise is a waste of time.  You and I both know that is completely false. 

Better eating and getting the right kinds of exercise go hand in hand, not just for weight loss, but for better health. 

Other Posts You Might Like:

• Happy Valentine’s Day: Do Something for Your Heart
• How to Reduce Risk of Heart Disease
• Spring HAS NOT Sprung
• You Need Your Heart and It Needs You

“It’s not just African-Americans I’m speaking to, it’s white, black, Hispanic, Asian; I’m speaking to many groups with the urban concept, the urban message.”

– Dr. Whitfield, from here.

“We’ve got to exercise; we’ve got a silent killer.  We’ve got to open our eyes.  We’ve got to do our best, to try to manage stress.  We’ve got to eat right and keep our bodies tight.”

–Lyrics from Tha Hip Hop Doc’s “Walk Tha Walk” (See music video below).

[Can't see video?  Go here].

I like this and I like what “Tha Hip Hop Doc” is doing.  I hope his message will help spread the word.  For more info on “Tha Hip Hop Doc” read this article or visit his Hip Hop Health Coalition.

Other Posts You Might Like:

• Calcium Supplements and Heart Attack Risk
• How to Reduce Risk of Heart Disease
• The Heart is Awesome
• An Artificial Heart