Tag: Health and Wellness

What is cholesterol and what does it do?

The liver combines substances from natural compounds found in your body to produce cholesterol. That’s the main source of cholesterol. But you also ingest cholesterol when you eat foods containing animal fat. These include full-fat dairy products (butter, cream, cheese, whole milk); lard; fatty meats (with visible white fat), bacon, and foods made with trans-fat (processed baked goods, fries, onion rings, etc.) In contrast, foods made plants are cholesterol free.

Our bodies need a small amount of cholesterol to maintain normal body functions, including producing hormone, processing of fat-soluble vitamins, and maintaining cell structure. While cholesterol is a specific compound, it is transported throughout the body by carriers called lipoproteins.

Depending on the carrier, cholesterol is either “good” or “bad.” High-density lipoproteins, or HDLs, carry cholesterol out of the blood to the liver, so it doesn’t stick to blood vessel walls and clog them. HDL is referred to as “good cholesterol” (think H for healthy). Low-density lipoprotein, or LDL (think lousy), on the other hand, is the “bad” cholesterol. LDL cholesterol can build up in blood vessel walls, contributing to heart disease. A few other carriers make up the total cholesterol number, but HDL and LDL two are the main components.

What are ‘normal’ cholesterol levels?

The only way to know your cholesterol levels is through a blood test. You need to know your total cholesterol (including the biggest contributors, LDL and HDL), as well as HDL and LDL. Triglycerides are another type of fat, related to, but different from cholesterol. High levels of triglycerides are also linked to heart disease. Here are what the numbers mean:

Total cholesterol:

• Less than 200 is desirable
• Between 200 and 239 is borderline high
• From 240 up is considered high

LDL (bad cholesterol):

• Less than 100 is optimal (NOTE: less than 70 for those with heart disease)
• Between 100 and 129 is almost optimal
• Between 130 and 159 is borderline high
• Between 160 and 189 is considered high
• And 190 and above is deemed to be very high

HDL (good cholesterol):

• 60 and above is optimal
• Less than 40 for men is considered low
• Less than 50 for women is considered low

Triglycerides

• Less than 150 is normal
• Between 150 and 199 is considered borderline high
• Between 200 and 499 is high
• And 500 or higher is very high

What can high cholesterol do to the body?

There are a number of side effects of high cholesterol. If arteries get clogged, oxygen-rich blood has trouble getting to the heart, damaging the heart muscle. Clogged arteries can also contribute to strokes, peripheral vascular disease, and peripheral artery disease (clogging in the legs and feet.) High cholesterol can contribute to high blood pressure. Accumulation of cholesterol in blood vessel walls decreases their diameter vessels, so blood is pumped through them at a higher pressure.

What factors affect cholesterol level?

Diet:

• Cut down on saturated fat and high-cholesterol foods.
• Eat fruits, vegetables and whole grains (fiber is good). Oatmeal is particularly good choice.
• Avoid full-fat dairy products. Instead, opt for skim milk, lower fat cheese, lower fat yogurt and trans-fat free spreads.
• Substitute heart healthy plant oils for butter and lard.
• Eat lean proteins: fish, skinless chicken, and lean meats. Avoid marbled meats and bacon.

Exercise:

• Body weight: Losing weight can help lower cholesterol. Regular exercise can increase HDL (healthy cholesterol) and lower LDL (bad). Thirty minutes per day can have healthy benefits.
• Smoking: Don’t do it.

Biology: We can’t control

• Age: As we all age, cholesterol rises.
• Gender: After menopause, women are at greater risk for higher cholesterol.
• Heredity (family tree): Your genes can determine how much cholesterol your liver produces.
• Diabetes: This disease can alter the balance of LDL and HDL cholesterol.

How to lower high cholesterol:

• Change your lifestyle for six months to see if this lowers your cholesterol.
• When lifestyle isn’t effective, your doctor may prescribe medication. There are two types: statins, which act on liver to block production of cholesterol (Lipitor, Zocor, Pravachol, for example) and blockers of cholesterol absorption in digestive track — not on the liver directly. The new drug, Zetia, is an example of a blocker. Others include niacin, bile acids, and fibric acid derivatives.

Medication does not replace the lifestyle change. You can’t eat bacon and eggs for breakfast just because you take a statin. Both are both important.

NOTE: If you take cholesterol-lowering meds, like the statins, you need to avoid certain foods which can interfere with their effectiveness. For instance, don’t take them with grapefruit juice.

The bottom line: Find out your cholesterol numbers. See your doctor for a blood test. If they’re out of balance, evaluate your options. Start with lifestyle changes: diet and exercise. If that doesn’t work, then see your doctor about medications that would be safe and effective for you.

Graphic:  mayoclinic©

Not sure where to get started with losing weight? Fat-loss coach Carter Good (@cartergood on Instagram) shared this simple fat-loss plan in a recent Instagram post. He said not to stress about how many carbs to eat, how many meals per day, if you should eat fruit, or whether bread is good or bad. Just focus on these three steps:

Step 1: Find Your Calorie Deficit Target

Carter said that no matter what diet you choose, whether it’s vegan, keto, or Paleo, “The ONLY WAY you’ll lose weight is through consistently being in a calorie deficit. For a ballpark daily calorie amount, he suggested multiplying your goal weight in pounds by 10 or 11. So if your goal is to be 150 pounds, you’d aim for 1,500 calories (if you’re sedentary) or 1,650 calories (if you’re somewhat active).

He noted that “if you have over 70 lbs. to lose, or you’re already light, these calories might feel a bit low. If this is you, don’t be afraid to start with a higher calorie goal.” His method is a good place to start, but it is just a guideline.  So in order to determine your exact calorie needs, speak with your doctor or a registered dietitian. If you’re not losing weight after a few weeks, and you’re accurately tracking your calories, adjust your calorie intake.

Step 2: Find Your Protein Target

Protein is a key macronutrient to satiate your hunger and help you build and maintain calorie-burning muscle. Aim for 0.7 to 1 gram of protein per pound of goal body weight. If your goal weight is 150 pounds, get between 105 and 150 grams of protein a day. Carter noted that if you are vegan or vegetarian, it may be easier to decrease that target number.

Step 3: Make Whole Foods the Focus

Carter said, “If roughly 80 percent of your diet is coming from nutritious foods, then it’s absolutely-positively okay to have ‘fun’ foods for the other 20 percent.” Make sure your diet is made up of healthy foods including lean protein, veggies, healthy fats and carbs, but also allow yourself some treat foods to satisfy your cravings and keep you on track.

There’s your simple plan. You can decide how you want to implement it, based on the foods you like and how many times you like to eat a day.

By Jenny Sugar for msn.com/en-us/health/weightloss

How long has that bottle of ketchup been sitting on the table? How fresh is the bread in that basket? From drastically overpriced to downright dirty, there are some menu items to never order at a restaurant, no matter how much you love the place. We spoke to food safety experts, dietitians, and chefs and compiled a list of things you should completely avoid on your next meal out.

1. Drink Garnishes

Kimberly Barnes, founder of Might Be Vegan and a private, plant-based chef in Atlanta, GA, recommends avoiding lemon and lime slices and other drink garnishes at bars and restaurants. Why? A study of 76 lemons at 21 different restaurants in The Journal of Environmental Health found that 53 of them contained microbial growth. Of the positive culture results, seven were E. coli.

Food blogger and editor of Eat, Drink, Be SD Michelle Stansbury strongly warns against eating or using the garnishes at the bar because bartenders often aren’t held to the same sanitary standards as the kitchen. It’s likely that the fruits in drinks are unwashed and that they sit out for days without being refrigerated. Do you recall your bartender washing their hands between sorting cash and dropping a cherry in your cocktail? We figured.

2. Raw Sprouts

A staple in vegan and Asian cuisine, raw sprouts are often added to salads and sandwiches for extra crunch. But this crunch can come at a cost. According to Barnes, the humid temperatures that sprouts need in order to grow can also be the perfect breeding ground for Salmonella, Listeria, and E.coli. After a foodborne illness outbreak at Jimmy John’s, the company decided to remove sprouts from their menu.

3. Tap Water

Barnes also warns against tap waters, suggesting you stick to the bottled stuff despite the price tag. “Tap water, while under federal regulations from the EPA, can still contain trace amounts of harmful contaminants, including lead, chlorine, mercury, and herbicides. And it is our personal responsibility to limit our own exposure to these trace elements, as the long-term health effects of chronic exposure are questionable.”

4. Raw Oysters

Candess Zona-Mendolla, a food safety advocate and editor of MakeFoodSafe.com, says raw oysters are one of the riskiest choices on the menu at even the best fresh seafood joints. “These mollusks are carriers of two scary foodborne illnesses—Norovirus and Vibrio. Ever heard about flesh-eating bacteria? That’s Vibrio. We see a rise in cases during the summer months, as Vibrio loves warm waters. If oysters have been cooked, they are a-ok to eat.” Google a picture, and we promise raw seafood won’t be on your dinner plate for a long time.

5. Buffet Food  (What !)

Is that dinner salad bar calling your name? Just walk away. Any dish that’s been sitting out for too long is a recipe for food poisoning. Although recent regulations have improved buffet food quality, foods served in buffets are at risk for contamination from other customers and restaurant employees. Zona-Mendolla says to look for buffets that have food warmers and to remember that hot food should be hot, and cold food should be cold. Be sure to also avoid dishes that use serving spoons from other dishes to keep cross-contaminating bacteria at bay.

6. Hollandaise Sauce

Anthony Bourdain once said eggs Benedict is the least favorite dish to prepare among chefs, so it’s likely you’re eating a premade, and oftentimes old, sauce.

7. Fresh-Squeezed Juices

Thinking of pairing your eggs Benedict with some freshly squeezed orange juice? You may want to rethink that decision for the same reason you pass on adding garnishes to your drink. Freshly squeezed juices are often teeming with bacteria, unlike pasteurized juices.

8. Raw Flour Products

Some pizza places will give customers with kids raw pizza dough to play with and use to prepare their own mini pies. Zona-Mendolla warns against this practice, noting that raw flour products were connected to an outbreak of E.coli a few years ago. Since raw flour products haven’t been treated to kill harmful germs, playing with or handling raw dough can increase your risk of foodborne illness.

Moreover, the eggs in the raw dough may contain Salmonella, which can make you sick if they’re lightly cooked. Be sure that any foods that involve using dough, eggs, and batter are handled with care and fully cooked.

9. The Bread Basket

We already know it has empty calories—but there are other reasons to skip the bread basket when you’re dining out. According to a former server and author Debra Ginsburg’s Waiting: The True Confessions of a Waitress, bread baskets tend to circulate from table to table. Yes, you heard that right.

The bread in your basket could likely be the scraps from your neighbors’ table. Bar snacks call for even more unwanted sharing. Many hands have passed over your popcorn or peanuts, which may have been sitting out for days by the time you eat it.

10. Never Order Fish on a Monday

In Anthony Bourdain’s Kitchen Confidential, he wrote that it’s likely that your Monday fish special can include fillets that are three days old. Bourdain, who spent most of his culinary career in New York City kitchens, said in the book that since most seafood markets aren’t open on weekends, Monday’s fish is old and, well, fishy.

11. Bottled Ketchup on the Table

Former server Aaron Norris says condiments, especially ketchup in glass jars, is always something to avoid. The restaurant staff often spends hours at the end of long shifts marrying partially empty bottles, so there’s no way to tell how long the stuff at the bottom has been there…leading to sour and sometimes even explosive ketchup.

12. Unpasteurized Cheeses

In a process called pasteurization, milk is heated at a high temperature for a certain amount of time in order to ward off bacteria and kill harmful organisms. Certain soft cheeses like brie, queso fresco, and camembert aren’t pasteurized, though. Therefore, you run a high risk for Listeria. According to the CDC, listeria is 50 to 160 times more likely to infect unpasteurized cheeses than pasteurized cheeses.

13. The Soup Special

A soup special is a perfect way to disguise the scraps from yesterday’s leftovers as a new and fresh dish today…and tomorrow.

14. Anything You Could Make Yourself

This one may go without saying, but we think it is a valid piece of advice when trying to get the best bang for your buck. Tanner Agar, CEO of restaurant Rye Mckinney, says that he recommends guests always try to order something that they could not have made themselves. “Eating out is a time to try something new or something very technically involved. By ordering something you can make, you make it impossible to have that thrill of a surprise that a great, unexpected dish can create.”

By Shannon Deady & Eat This, Not That

The full gamut of symptoms Parkinson’s disease can cause doesn’t typically arrive all at once. If you have Parkinson’s disease, you likely first noticed a mild symptom or two, and thought, “Huh… what’s that all about?” Though Parkinson’s is often thought of as mainly affecting older people, the disease can arise at younger ages, too, and it can involve more than just tremoring, the symptom people tend to be most familiar with. Parkinson’s is a neurodegenerative disorder that targets dopamine-producing neurons in a part of the brain that affects movement, causing symptoms like rigid limbs, gait problems and tremors.

There is no single “Parkinson’s test” you can take to diagnose the disease; rather, doctors will look for a few classic symptoms and their progression over time. But how do you know if your initial symptoms warrant an exploration into the possibility of Parkinson’s disease? To help answer that question, we asked our Parkinson’s disease community to share the symptom they noticed first.

Remember that when it comes to chronic illnesses, symptoms of one condition can overlap with another. If you’re considering Parkinson’s as a possible diagnosis, be sure to check with a doctor, so you can rule out any other possible causes.

1. Loss of Balance

Parkinson’s disease targets a part of the brain that controls balance automatically, so you may notice you are finding it more difficult to balance. The brain will try to compensate by assigning balance to another part of the brain — the “thinking” part. However, this isn’t as effective, so you may start to notice that you can’t correct yourself when you start to fall and you have to concentrate on balancing, whereas a person without Parkinson’s doesn’t have to think about it.

2. Hand Tremor

A hallmark symptom of Parkinson’s is tremoring (though it’s important to note that not everyone with Parkinson’s experiences this). You might notice that your hand, finger or chin shakes while you are not trying to move. Tremors from Parkinson’s can be mistaken for essential tremor and vice versa, though they are two separate conditions. Essential tremor does not include balance and gait issues, and more commonly manifests while a person is moving. However, some people with Parkinson’s experience tremors both at rest and while moving.

3. Difficulty Gripping Things

The movement issues caused by Parkinson’s can make fine motor skills difficult. Nicola Lee said while she had been having symptoms like feeling weak and losing energy easily for several months, it wasn’t until she began having trouble buttoning and unbuttoning that she began to get worried.

“It wasn’t just buttons either. I couldn’t grip things well. I had trouble picking things off the floor, which was bad for laundry… None of this was due to tremors, mind you,” Lee said. “Most people think everyone has to have a tremor. I learned that wasn’t the case, especially for early diagnosis like I have. There is much more to it [than] that.”

4. Acting Out Dreams

Actor Alan Alda said he was diagnosed four years ago after he read an article about how acting out dreams was a sign of the disease. Indeed, research has shown that almost all people with rapid eye movement sleep behavior disorder (RBD), the condition responsible for acting out dreams, go on to develop Parkinson’s disease or a similar disorder. RBD is believed to be caused by a brain stem malfunction that allows people to move in their sleep, possibly due to the breakdown of proteins in the brain that causes Parkinson’s disease.

“I was having a dream that someone was attacking me, and I threw a sack of potatoes at them. But what I was really doing was throwing a pillow at my wife,” Alda said.

5. Illegible Handwriting

One classic symptom of Parkinson’s is handwriting that becomes harder to read or very small, called micrographia. As you might imagine, the movement challenges caused by Parkinson’s can make it difficult to hold a pen and write.

“When I told my primary care physician that my handwriting was becoming illegible, she told me to see a neurologist,” Jean Mellano said. “Other strange things started to happen that I could not explain. While volunteering at a race, I was rolling posters for athlete giveaways. I could not understand why the other staff could roll five posters to my one. Why was I so slow at performing such a simple task?”

6. Fatigue

Fatigue is a common symptom of Parkinson’s disease, and typically shows up in the first few years of the disease, even possibly before motor symptoms. Fatigue is not the same as being tired — it is the feeling of having no energy or ability to move but cannot be solved with a good night’s sleep. Fatigue is also often coupled with a lack of motivation, also a common symptom of Parkinson’s due to the loss of dopamine-producing cells.

7. Voice Changes

Many people with Parkinson’s notice that their voice has become softer, slower and more monotone. This is due to weakening of the muscles required for speech and greater difficulty controlling the muscles. Another similar symptom is facial “masking,” or a loss of facial expressions.

Singer Linda Ronstadt said the symptom she experienced that began worrying her was her gradual inability to sing.

“I’d start to sing and then it would just clamp up. It was, like, a cramp. My voice would freeze,” Ronstadt said. “And I said, ‘There’s something wrong with my voice.’ And people would say, ‘Oh, you’re just a perfectionist.’ I go, ‘No, there’s really something systemically wrong.’”

By Erin Migdol for themighty.com©