That's Fit

September is National Cholesterol Awareness Month, so take some time this month to educate yourself on cholesterol -- the good, the bad, and what you can do about it.

• Get tested. If you don't know your cholesterol levels, visit your doctor. Ask your doctor to explain the results and give you some recommendations if your cholesterol levels needs improvement. Chris recently posted a good overview of the different types of cholesterol and some general guidelines for healthy ranges.
  
• Eat heart-healthy foods. Choose plenty of whole grains, healthful fats (monounsaturated and polyunsaturated), lots of fruits and vegetables, and lean protein. Also, remember to minimize your sodium intake.

What's NEAT? Well, beside being a word used by teenage TV stars of yesteryear to describe rocket ships and hula-hoops, it's also an acronym that may have you parking your car in the farthest spot from your office as possible.

Standing for Nonexercise Activity Thermogenesis (fancy talk for things you do, other than exercise, that also burn calories), NEAT was the explanation for an increase in triglyceride levels in men in a recent study. Danish researchers instructed study volunteers to take elevators instead of stairs, park close to buildings, and reduce the overall amount of walking they do for two weeks, after which time their triglyceride levels were again taken. Amazingly, researchers found that the men's levels were, on average, 18 percent higher after the two-week period.

Clearly, the takeaway from this study is to remember that burning calories need not require a gym membership or daily five-mile runs. Everyday activities -- such as those mentioned, as well as normal household chores and daily duties -- require caloric expenditure. To that end, greater benefit can be obtained from taking steps to increase your nonexercise effort level, with parking far from a building, using stairs instead of elevators, and walking to and from the store being great methods of how to go about doing just that.

Are you a hearty eater? No, I'm not talking about a hardy eater; eating robust meals (for some reason beef stew comes to mind) and washing them down with pints of lager. What I'm actually wondering is if your diet is good for your heart. We've all heard plenty about the importance of cutting bad fats from your diet to ensure heart health, but did you know that cutting back on carbs can also help? This is clearly the case, says a study out of the University of California at Davis.

Researchers found that cutting your carb intake to be less than 40 percent of total calories actually turned off a particular triglyceride-producing gene. As a matter of fact, they found that the more carbs were slashed from a person's diet, the less active this gene (known as stearoyl-coenzyme A desaurase) became.

This doesn't mean that it's time to go back to an Atkin's philosophy; rather, it simply means that being aware of carb intake is crucial for a well-balanced diet. Of all the macronutrients we get from food, carbs seem to be the easiest to source, which is also why it's so easy to go overboard with them. The most sound approach, based on current research, is to stick to heart healthy whole grains, legumes, and fruits and vegetables as your carb sources.

When researchers asked a group of healthy, active men to cut their activity levels down considerably, something interesting happened. Though the men did not gain weight or noticeable fat, their visceral (belly) fat increased by 7%. Belly fat is the more dangerous type of fat because it surrounds the internal organs and is linked to cardiovascular disease. Exercise reduces belly fat, and according to this study, not-exercising allows it to return.

In addition to increased belly fat, the men also became less sensitive to insulin and their triglycerides also increased. All of these changes occurred in just two to three weeks time.

While the men were still healthy after the study was over, it's clear that exercise is an important part of a healthy life. Even if you can only manage a short or moderate workout, keep moving to help your body stay at the top of its game.

Did you know your liver can produce all the cholesterol your body needs? But, a resourceful little organ, when we have cholesterol in our body from foods that we eat, the liver creates little bundles of fat and protein called "lipoproteins." There are two kinds of lipoproteins:

• High Density Lipoproteins (HDL). Think "H" for Healthy. HDL's are considered beneficial to the body because they carry excess cholesterol from the bloodstream back to the liver for removal. Your HDL should be greater than 40 mg/dl for men and greater than 0 mg/dl for women.
  
• Low Density Lipoproteins (LDL). Think "L" for Lousy. LDL's can clog up your arteries and inhibit blood flow. Keeping your LDL lower than 100 mg/dl is optimal.
  
• Triglycerides are another form of fat that circulates in your blood. Tri-Gs are deposited in muscles for energy or are stored in fat cells. Your triglycerides should be lower than 150 mg/dl.

Your total cholesterol should be less that 200 mg/dl. Eating healthy foods and staying active can help keep your cholesterol in control. To learn more check out the American Heart Association's common misconceptions about cholesterol.

I've said it enough times on this blog, just as so many other people have spoken highly about the health benefits of drinking tea. The stuff is good for you, bottom line. But, it turns out that adding milk to your tea can make it less healthy than if you were to drink it as is.

German scientists found that people who drank their tea without adding milk showed signs of improved blood-vessel function, a well-known cardiovascular benefit of drinking tea. However, people who added milk to their tea did not show any signs of improvement with regard to their blood-vessel function.

The study's author suggests that the proteins in milk may bind to the heart-healthy compounds in tea known as catechins. From there, the binding may lessen the teas beneficial effects. If tea without milk isn't your...um...cup of tea, then maybe you can try a flavored or spiced tea in place of the added flavor you're used to getting from the milk.

Four things I knew about the effects of soda on your health:

1 - It contains extremely high amounts of sugar, in the form of sucrose, fructose, corn syrup, and just about every other form known to man.

2 - It is bad for your teeth and gums, due chiefly to the aforementioned high sugar content.

3 - It can be high in caffeine; something that can be looked at as being either a good or bad thing. But, considering the fact that so much soda is consumed by kids, I'd venture to say that it's definitely a bad thing.

4 - It can contribute to the development of type 2 diabetes.

One thing that I just learned about the effects of soda on your health:

1 - It can raise your risk of heart disease.

Canadian researchers analyzed the diets of more than 600 healthy people and discovered that those who regularly ate the most sugar-laden foods -- such as soda -- had the lowest level of HDL (good) cholesterol. Given the fact that HDL helps remove arterial plaque left by LDL (bad) cholesterol, and also because low HDL is related to related to high triglycerides, this sugar-based reduction of this cholesterol is far from sweet.

Want to reduce your risk of heart disease? Keep your triglyceride levels down. Want to reduce your risk of rheumatoid arthritis? Again, keep your triglyceride levels down. A Dutch study revealed that people who suffer from late onset arthritis tended to have higher triglyceride levels and lower HDL (good) cholesterol while in their youth.

Why this correlation may exist remains unknown, although some researchers speculate that it may have something to do with having a poor lipid profile, and how that may make someone more prone to the inflammation that ultimately causes rheumatoid arthritis.

Related studies on rheumatoid arthritis have shown that regular exercise can reduce a person's risk of developing this impairment by around 40 percent. Given the fact that triglycerides and HDL levels may be related to this form of arthritis, it's very possible that the exercise reduces their risk which, in turn, then effectively reduces the risk of the arthritis.

Have you had blood work performed recently? Knowing your blood triglycerides, cholesterol levels and other levels is important to know at least on an annual basis so you can keep your health in check. Having blood work done, in many cases, will instantly reveal dietary habits as well.

But, if you have too high a triglyceride count, you could be an increased risk of stroke, according to a new study. The study indicated that those types of fats have a "strong effect on vascular blood vessel risk as a whole," according to lead study researchers, Dr. Bruce Ovbiagele.

Make it a point this early in the year to have your blood triglyceride levels checked and make sure they're where they need to be. If not, a visit to your preferred medical professional may be in order.

Need yet another reason to eat your fruits and veggies? Here's one: In lab studies, antioxidants from fruits, vegetables, nuts, and wine altered fat cells in mice to make them produce fewer triglycerides, which can damage the heart.

While more research needs to be done to find out if antioxidants have a similar effect on human fat cells and what that might mean for obesity, we don't have to wait around to find out before we can do something about it. The health benefits of a produce rich diet have been well established, so get those 5 to 9 (or 10, or 12) servings in every day!

Are you familiar with what a triglyceride is? That blood component is generally measured when cholesterol is taken and measured, and it can be a good indicator of how much fat you have in your diet.

Before heading over to Wikipedia to find out what triglycerides are, take this simple quiz and see if you're up to snuff on this fatty acid radical that can be hugely detrimental to your health when elevated in your body.

The next time you eat a cheeseburger and then lay down in front of the couch, remember that those triglycerides are most likely being stored in fat cells. That is, if your tissues aren't going to immediately use them. If that scenario sounds familiar, learn more here.

With trans fats and saturated fats making so many headlines lately cholesterol and triglycerides are getting a little more attention than they used to. Triglycerides are basically just fat, some of them can be stationary in the form of large hips and some of them are free-floating around in your bloodstream. Obviously it's in your best interest to minimize levels of both kinds in your body, and the ways to do that are actually really simple. Not easy necessarily, but simple. Here's a few suggestions:

• Cut calories
• Lower your blood glucose
• Exercise
• Eat the right carbs and don't overdo it
• Incorporate fish and fish oils in your diet

Get more information and details on each of these on eDiets, but I'm sure you've heard most, if not all, of them before. It's just a matter of finally doing them, right?

Omega-3s have the medically proven ability to reduce the amount of fat in your blood and help lower triglycerides. Triglycerides are a huge risk factor in heart attacks. Not only are they good for the heart but they help with depression, type 2 diabetes, fatigue, dry and itchy skin, brittle hair and nails, joint pain and other inflammation in the body, and the inability to concentrate. Here are some top 10 food sources for Omega-3s. Start a healthy habit by adding some of these items to your daily diet and remember to buy organic when available.

Flax Seeds
Dried Ground Cloves
Walnuts
Salmon, Halibut, Cod
Cauliflower
Cabbage
Dried Ground Oregano
Mustard Seeds
Brussel Sprouts
Cooked Soybeans

Wow. It seems they can't stop doing research on eating fish, and I can't stop writing about it! Yesterday I noted a study showing that women who consumed fish while they were pregnant had children less likely to suffer from eczema. Today I read an article on a study purporting that consuming fish oil might help you lose weight. This was, of course, in addition to moderate exercise. I can assure you that, whether or not the fish oil thing turns out to be gold, exercise is definitely known to assist in weight loss.

According to the study, overweight individuals who both took fish oil and exercised saw an increase in their good cholesterol and a decrease in their triglycerides along with a decrease in body fat. Now, before you rush out to buy fish oil pills and start scarfing them down like mad, be reminded these were the results of one study, and were "early" results at that.

The article mentions that those participating in the study were overweight, but it didn't say by how much. In other words, it is possible that the benefits of fish oil might be enjoyed only by those who are severely overweight instead of trying to shave off those last five pounds. Fish oil contains Omega-3 fatty acids, which previous studies have shown may good for the heart. Although Omega-3s have been linked to weight loss in lab studies, as noted by the researchers themselves, more testing is needed to understand fully the reasons for the results. Stay tuned!