Eat Oatmeal – Nature’s Miracle Cholesterol Lowering Food

December 2, 2009 · Posted in cholesterol foods · Comment 

If you are looking for a cholesterol lowering food that has been clinically proven to lower your cholesterol, look no further than the oat. Oats are nature’s cholesterol lowering miracle food. You could even call it the “superfood” of the healthy heart world.

Oatmeal is a soluble fiber and also considered a complex carbohydrate. This means that oatmeal and other oat foods are digested slower than other types of low-quality carbohydrates. This makes oatmeal a good addition to any diet. But what makes it so effective to lower your cholesterol?

Because oatmeal is a soluble fiber it helps to reduce the amount of LDL cholesterol which is absorbed by your body. Have you ever made a bowl of instant oatmeal? If you have, you have probably noticed that the oatmeal thickens as it absorbs the water. It works the same way in your intestines – the oatmeal absorbs the LDL cholesterol to keep your LDL level in check.

You can find oats in a number of different foods. You probably more commonly associate oats with cold breakfast cereals and oatmeal itself. However, you can also find oats in breads and grits. Oats can also be ground into a powder and be used to create other breads like bagels and bread loaves. Read more

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Why Cholesterol is a Problem

December 2, 2009 · Posted in cholesterol, cholesterol foods, cholesterol too low, diets to lower cholesterol, foods high cholesterol, good cholesterol, good cholesterol food, high blood pressure and cholesterol, high cholesterol, ldl cholesterol · Comment 

Far from being a totally unwanted substance in the body as many would probably believe, cholesterol is in fact an important constituent of certain bodily hormones such as estrogen and testosterone, and of cell membranes. In other words, cholesterol is actually something that is required and which performs vital functions within our bodies.

Why then, are we constantly told that we need to cut down our cholesterol levels? It is because our bodies actually manufacture all the cholesterol that they need. Cholesterol only becomes a problem for us when we consume it in excessive quantities. About three quarters of the cholesterol in our blood is manufactured by our bodies.

Your liver is extremely sensitive to your cholesterol requirement, so if you consume a somewhat greater quantity of it at some point, your body will manufacture a somewhat lesser quantity to keep the overall level in balance. A problem only arises when you consume so much that the ability of your body to properly balance the quantity is compromised.

The average individual requires something under about 14 grams of fat per day to enable them to acquire their requirement of essential fatty acids, but in the United States the average daily consumption is at least eight times that amount. That is, the average daily consumption is greater than 112 grams when only about 14 grams are required. This excess builds up in the arteries and sets in train a health time bomb in the bodies of the individuals concerned.

Epidemiological studies have demonstrated that cholesterol levels and blood pressure levels increase in proportion to the amount of saturated fat and cholesterol consumed. Read more

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