Adding Cocoa Beans to Your Daily Diet

Commonly referred to as a “Super Food”, Cocoa beans contain a large amount of healthy nutrients your body needs. Cocoa beans are seeds from a cocoa tree, and they are the primary ingredient in chocolate. Including Cocoa beans in your daily diet is an easy way to give your body a healthy boost. Some benefits include:

Plenty of Antioxidants

Researchers agree that cocoa beans are one of the most natural, antioxidant-rich foods you can consume. In fact, in its natural form cocoa beans have three times the amount of antioxidants of green tea. Antioxidants promote healthy cholesterol, protect against cell damage, and may even help prevent certain types of cancers. Those are just a few examples. All around, antioxidants are extremely beneficial to the human body.

A Natural Antidepressant

Sometimes referred to as “Nature’s Antidepressant”, Cocoa beans contain three key neurotransmitters that promote a positive mood. Serotonin, dopamine and phenylethylamine all work together to keep your mental state happy. In addition to this, cocoa beans also contain monoamine oxidase (MAO) inhibitors, which allow the three neurotransmitters to circulate in your blood stream longer than they normally would.

Supports a Healthy Weight

Although research is thin in this area, it is generally believed that cocoa beans help promote weight-loss. This is due to the polyphenols contained in the beans, which may improve insulin sensitivity, thus helping you maintain a proper weight.

Promotes a Healthy Heart

It is a fact that cocoa beans have a positive impact on the cardiovascular system. Cocoa beans do this by lowering the “bad” cholesterol in your blood stream and raising the “good” cholesterol levels. Cocoa beans also contain magnesium, which keeps blood free of clots, and keeps your heart pumping blood efficiently.

When consuming cocoa beans, you have a couple options. Some people choose to eat them raw, and while this is undoubtedly the most beneficial way to eat them, it is also the most bitter. Dark chocolate is a far more enjoyable way to eat cocoa beans. It would be wise to purchase a bar that contains at least 70% cocoa, and that does not contain any milk, as milk would detract from your body’s ability to absorb the natural antioxidants.

Experimental Drug Raises Good Cholesterol Levels in Early Trial

Title: Experimental Drug Raises Good Cholesterol Levels in Early Trial Category: Health News Created: 11/17/2010 12:05:00 PM Last Editorial Review: 11/17/2010

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Monounsaturated Fats Boost “Good” Cholesterol

The monounsaturated fats found in vegetable oils, nuts and avocados can help boost a person’s “good” cholesterol levels when added to an overall diet that curbs “bad” LDL cholesterol….

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Better Cholesterol Drugs May Follow Researcher’s Breakthrough

Thanks to a discovery by a Saint Louis University researcher, scientists have identified an important microRNA that may allow us to better control cholesterol levels in blood. Led by Angel Baldán, Ph.D., assistant professor of biochemistry and molecular biology at Saint Louis University and published in a recent issue of Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, the study found that the microRNA miR-33, may be key to controlling HDL, or “good” cholesterol levels. In the U.S…

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MicroRNA that may allow for better control cholesterol levels in blood identified

Scientists have identified an important microRNA that may allow us to better control cholesterol levels in blood. Their study found that the microRNA miR-33, may be key to controlling HDL, or “good” cholesterol levels.

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Kinds of Cholesterol – HDL

Not all cholesterol is created equal. Does this seem like a strange statement? While it may seem
strange, it is true. Not all types of cholesterol are the same. Your body creates some cholesterol;
you add some to your body by the foods you eat. Also, medical experts consider some cholesterol
bad while they think that you also have good cholesterol. What, good cholesterol? With all the
negative publicity we hear each day about cholesterol, how can you believe that any form of this
substance is good?

To understand how expert can call one cholesterol good, you must first understand the role of
cholesterol in the body. Since the body naturally produces this substance, it makes sense the body
needs this substance to survive. Cholesterol’s main role in the body is to preserve and build cell
wall membranes. Cholesterol also aids in digesting fat soluble vitamins and is important in
producing hormones.

So, as you see, cholesterol is a substance the body needs for it to be healthy. Cholesterol becomes
bad when there is a surplus of it in our systems either because our body produces too much of the
substance or when we take in too much cholesterol though the foods we eat. This excess
cholesterol can build up in the blood vessels, clogging arteries and causing heart disease and
heart attack.

This is the point where doctors begin to distinguish between good and bad cholesterol. Medical
researchers refer to good cholesterol as high density lipoprotein or HDL cholesterol, while they
term bad cholesterol as low-density lipoprotein or LDL cholesterol. You can also call HDL
cholesterol good cholesterol, because the medical practitioners believe that your bodily processes
work to transport this cholesterol out of the body. This is good because it does not stick around to
plug up your arteries. Meanwhile, it is LDL cholesterol that builds up in the arteries and causes
heart disease.

Therefore, if you want to avoid heart disease, your goal should be to raise your good cholesterol
levels and lower the bad cholesterol levels. What, then, is the ideal good cholesterol level?
Doctors want your good cholesterol to be above 50 mg/DL. Any reading between 35 and 50
mg/DL they consider acceptable while they look at those below 35 mg/DL to be too low.

Now, what can you do if you find your good cholesterol level is too low? What are the best ways
to raise it? Here are a few things to try. First, lose some weight. If you are overweight, this
change can drastically help improve cholesterol levels. Join a weight loss program to help you
reduce your weight. Exercise can also help to raise your HDL level. If you smoke, quitting can
also help to raise levels of good cholesterol.

As you can see, all cholesterol is indeed not created equal. By increasing your good cholesterol,
you can cut your risk of heart disease and stroke. Several lifestyle changes, such as losing weight
and giving up smoking, can help improve your levels of this good cholesterol.

Author: Julia Carmichael
Article Source: EzineArticles.com
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Take Control of Your Cholesterol

We’ve all heard of someone having “high cholesterol,” and your doctor may have even told you that yours is high. Most of us would agree that it’s a bad thing, but few really know what cholesterol is or how to combat unhealthy levels.

Cholesterol is a fat-like substance that your body actually needs a small amount of in order to function normally. However, if you have too much of it in your bloodstream, the extra amounts may be deposited in your coronary arteries where it can lead to the narrowing and blockages that cause the signs and symptoms of heart disease.

In some cases, certain prescription medication can cause elevated cholesterol levels, but for the most part, inherited risk factors, a sedentary lifestyle and an unhealthy diet are the main causes:

• Weight: Excess weight may modestly increase your LDL (bad) cholesterol level. If you are overweight and have a high LDL cholesterol level, losing weight may help you lower it. Weight loss especially helps to lower triglycerides and raise HDL (good) cholesterol levels.
• Physical activity/exercise: Regular physical activity may lower triglycerides and raise HDL cholesterol levels.
• Mental Stress: Several studies have shown that stress raises blood cholesterol levels over the long term. One way that stress may do this is by affecting your habits. For example, when some people are under stress, they console themselves by eating fatty foods. The saturated fat and cholesterol in these foods contribute to higher levels of blood cholesterol.
Not sure whether you are at risk? If your doctor doesn’t automatically test you, request a lipid panel or profile (i.e. cholesterol test) during your annual physical. Here are the general guidelines for interpreting the results:

Total Cholesterol
Below 200 mg/dL Desirable
200 – 239 mg/dL Borderline high
240 mg/dL High

LDL Cholesterol
Below 70 mg/dL Optimal for people at very high risk of heart disease
Below 100 mg/dL Optimal for people at risk of heart disease
100 – 129 mg/dL Near optimal
130 – 159 mg/dL Borderline high
160 – 189 mg/dL High
190 mg/dL and above Very high

HDL Cholesterol
Below 40 mg/dL Poor
40 – 59 mg/dL Better
60 mg/dL and above Best

Triglycerides
Below 150 mg/dL Desirable
150 – 199 mg/dL Borderline high
200 – 499 mg/dL High
500 or above Very high

In order to promote healthy cholesterol levels, follow these four steps:
1. Lose excess pounds
Excess weight contributes to high cholesterol. Losing even 5 to 10 pounds of excess weight can help lower total cholesterol levels. Start by taking an honest look at your eating habits and daily routine. Consider your challenges to weight loss — and ways to overcome them.

2. Eat heart-healthy foods
What you eat has a direct impact on your cholesterol level. In fact, researchers say a diet rich in fiber and other cholesterol-lowering foods may help lower cholesterol as much as medication for some people.

• Choose healthier fats. Saturated fat and trans fat raise your total cholesterol and LDL cholesterol. Get no more than 10 percent of your daily calories from saturated fat, and try to avoid trans fat completely. Monounsaturated fat – found in olive, peanut and canola oils – is a healthier option. Almonds and walnuts are other sources of healthy fat.

• Limit your cholesterol intake. Aim for no more than 300 milligrams (mg) of cholesterol a day — or less than 200 mg if you have heart disease. The most concentrated sources of cholesterol include organ meats, egg yolks and whole milk products. Use lean cuts of meat, egg substitutes and skim milk instead.

• Select whole grains. Various nutrients found in whole grains promote heart health. Choose whole-grain breads, whole-wheat pasta, whole-wheat flour and brown rice. Oatmeal and oat bran are other good choices.

• Stock up on fruits and vegetables. Fruits and vegetables are rich in dietary fiber, which can help lower cholesterol. Snack on seasonal fruits. Experiment with veggie-based casseroles, soups and stir-fries.

• Eat heart-healthy fish. Some types of fish — such as cod, tuna and halibut — have less total fat, saturated fat and cholesterol than do meat and poultry. Salmon, mackerel and herring are rich in omega-3 fatty acids, which help promote heart health.

• Drink alcohol only in moderation. In some studies, moderate use of alcohol has been linked with higher levels of HDL cholesterol — but the benefits aren’t strong enough to recommend alcohol for anyone who doesn’t drink already. If you choose to drink, do so in moderation. This means no more than one drink a day for women, and one to two drinks a day for men.

3. Exercise regularly
Regular exercise can help improve your cholesterol levels. With your doctor’s permission, work up to 30 to 60 minutes of exercise a day. Take a brisk daily walk. Ride your bike. Swim laps. To maintain your motivation, keep it fun. Find an exercise buddy, join an exercise group or hire a personal trainer.

4. Don’t smoke
If you smoke, stop. Quitting can improve your HDL cholesterol level. And the benefits don’t end there. Just 20 minutes after quitting, your blood pressure decreases. Within 24 hours, your risk of a heart attack decreases. Within one year, your risk of heart disease is half that of a smoker’s. Within 15 years, your risk of heart disease is similar to that of someone who’s never smoked.

Managing Your Cholesterol Naturally

Because of organizations like the American Heart Association (AHA), we’ve learned a lot about cholesterol and how it affects our health. Thanks to these educational organizations, we know that high cholesterol levels can increase our risk for heart attacks and strokes and, by lowering these levels; we reduce these risks as well as keep our hearts and blood vessels healthy. We also know that our cholesterol levels can be improved through exercise, diet, and weight loss.

Although we’ve learned a lot through these educational organizations, there are still a few misconceptions about cholesterol. One of these being that not all cholesterol is harmful. There are both “good” and “bad” forms of cholesterol and a good balance between the two is what is needed for a healthy heart. Because so much emphasis is placed on lowering “bad” cholesterol levels, not enough attention is paid to the benefit of raising “good” cholesterol levels (HDL). Research states that raising HDL levels can provide even greater protection against cardiovascular disease than just simply lowering “bad” cholesterol levels. By raising HDL levels by simply 1%, the risk of heart disease can be lowered by 2% in men and 3% in women. Many studies have shown that low HDL cholesterol levels are an independent risk factor in heart disease. This is extremely important because we’ve learned that despite efforts to change a person’s diet and exercise habits, some people’s cholesterol levels are still unhealthy.

Prescription drugs to lower cholesterol are now available and have been proven by multiple studies to be very successful. The statins’ effectiveness in reducing LDL (“bad”) cholesterol has produced highly significant reductions in heart attacks and strokes. Although these medications do lower cholesterol levels, their side effects must be considered. Statin drugs can cause liver irritation, reduce CoQ10 levels in the body, are associated with myopathy, and are even linked to a rare and sometimes fatal condition called rhabdomyolysis. These drugs also have a relatively small effect on good (HDL) cholesterol levels. Thankfully, there are safe and effective solutions available that can help you manage your cholesterol levels naturally. However, first we must review what we know about cholesterol and heart disease.

Cholesterol is a fat-like substance needed to help digest fats, strengthen cell membranes, make hormones and insulate nerves. Although it is found in every cell of the body, cholesterol is mainly made in the liver, as well as cells lining the small intestine. Even though our bodies make all the cholesterol we need, we also get cholesterol from the foods we eat, such as egg yolks and organ meats. All foods from animal sources contain cholesterol, while plant derived food, including peanut butter and avocado, contains no cholesterol at all.

Cholesterol is important to many functions of the body. However, too much cholesterol in the bloodstream is extremely dangerous. After blood cholesterol reaches high levels, it builds up on the artery walls, and thus increasing the risk for blood clots, heart attack, and stroke. If the cholesterol clogs any of the coronary arteries, the heart’s supply of oxygen and nutrients will diminish, resulting in coronary heart disease, angina, or even heart attack.

Because cholesterol and other fats can’t dissolve in the blood and thereby can’t travel on their own, they have to be transported to and from the cells by lipoproteins. The two major lipoproteins are low density lipoproteins (LDL or “bad cholesterol) and high density lipoproteins (HDL or “good cholesterol”) LDLs carry cholesterol throughout the body to the cells and cause artherosclerosis by clogging up our arteries with fat. On the other hand, HDL prevents the fat buildup by carrying it away from the arteries and to the liver where it can be eliminated. Although high levels of LDL are associated with cardiovascular disease, high HDL can drastically reduce your risk of heart disease. As a result, the AHA has established three guidelines to keep your heart healthy: HDL levels about 40 for men and above 50 for women, LDL levels between 100 and 159, and a total cholesterol (HDL and LDL) of under 200.

Triglycerides are fats used as fuel by the body and a source for metabolism. These levels can fluctuate easily but increased levels are almost always a sign of too much carbohydrate and sugar intake. High amounts of triglycerides make the blood less capable of transporting oxygen and are another factor for cardiovascular disease. Thankfully, the HDL and LDL blend mentioned earlier can safely and effectively lower triglyceride levels.

It has been shown that high levels of HDL cholesterol are inversely related to coronary artery disease risk. However, what people do not know is that there are different subtypes of HDl, including HDL-2 and HDL-3. HDL-3 is produced by the liver and intestines and is responsible for scooping up free cholesterol from the blood vessel walls. The cholesterol carried by HDL-3 is chemically modified, forming a larger-sized subtype, known as HDL-2, or “mature HDL.” HDL-2 transports cholesterol to the liver for processing and elimination, and its molecules are then recirculated in the blood stream. Research has shown that HDL-2 provides more heart-protection because it moves the cholesterol away from arterial walls, and holds a greater number of receptor sites which allows it to carry a larger amount of cholesterol to the liver.

Although many prescription medications have been developed to lower bad cholesterol, there are very few medications that target good cholesterol. Therefore, patients with naturally low HDL cholesterol, who can not alter these levels through diet and exercise, have limited medical options to reduce their risk of heart disease. Multiple nutrients have been clinically shown to favorably alter good cholesterol levels including: vitamins C, E, B6, B12, niacin, folic acid, magnesium and selenium, with protein-building amino acids, powerful antioxidants such as coenzyme Q10, alpha lipoic acid, N-acetyle cysteine, and policosanol, and extracts of hawthorn, garlic, grape seed, and soy isoflavones. Although this HDL-boosting combination does not result in a significant reduction in LDL, antioxidants found in this formulation can help stabilize LDL and prevent build up in the arterial wall.

This formula combines essential vitamins and minerals, at levels recommended by the American Heart Association. It contains amino acids, antioxidants, and botanicals that have all been used safely for years. No serious adverse effects have been found following supplementation and the combination is safe to use with statin drugs.

Plant sterols, found in nuts, vegetable oils, corn, and rice are structurally similar to cholesterol and are able to block its absorption. Each day the liver receives about 800 mg of cholesterol from intestinal absorption through receptor sites. After entering these channels, the cholesterol is absorbed into the bloodstream. Since plant sterols look similar to cholesterol, they fit perfectly into these receptor sites and block the absorption, which allows the cholesterol to remain in our intestines where it can eventually be excreted. A large amount of plant sterols reduces the amount of cholesterol transported from the intestinal tract to the liver. This cholesterol reduction causes a decrease in LDL levels.

Even if a person does not have high cholesterol levels, reducing bad and raising good cholesterol greatly reduces their risk for ever developing chronic heart disease. Due to side effects, physicians do not normally prescribe statin drugs to people without actual heart disease of high LDL cholesterol levels. Instead, they recommend dietary changes. The HDL-boosting combination and LDL-lowering pantethine and plant sterols blend can effectively help people with heart disease, uncontrolled cholesterol levels, high triglyceride levels, or people who just want to improve their heart health.