How Fish Oil Supports Heart Health

By Health.com Staff

When it comes to heart health, there is one fat that won’t work against you—fish oil. While most of us need more fish in our diets, heart experts recommend that people at risk for or with coronary artery disease should consume about one gram of fish oil per day. That’s the same amount in three ounces of wild salmon (farmed fish may have less heart-healthy fats than wild).

Healthy people should aim for 500 milligrams a day, according to James O’Keefe, MD, a cardiologist with the Mid-America Heart Institute in Bethesda, Md.

Research suggests that omega-3 fatty acids, found in fish and fish oil as well as some plant foods, can decrease the likelihood of cardiovascular disease. Eating at least one fish meal a week was associated with a 52% reduction of risk for sudden cardiac death, according to a 1998 study of over 20,000 U.S. male physicians. Specifically, it can help prevent arrhythmias, lower triglycerides (a type of fat in the blood), slow down the buildup of plaque in the arteries, and slightly lower blood pressure.

Nutritionists recommend taking a food-based approach to fish oil before turning to capsule supplements, because fish is also a good source of protein and other nutrients.

Joyce Baber, 54, from New Egypt, N.J., is trying to do just that to help lower her high cholesterol, 233 (LDL, 174; HDL, 59) and slightly elevated blood pressure. “My doctor recommended omega-3,” she says. “My LDL should be 130 or less and my HDL should be closer to 100.” Patients with high cholesterol patients who consumed EPA, an omega-3 fatty acid, daily showed a 19% decrease in non-fatal coronary events, including heart attack, according to a 2007 Japanese study of over 18,000 people.

How much fish should you eat?
People with a history of cardiovascular disease should eat fatty fish, such as mackerel, trout, herring, sardines, albacore tuna, and salmon, two to three times per week. Those without a history of heart disease are advised to eat fish at least one to two times per week. Pregnant women should consume two fatty fish meals a week, while avoiding shark, tile fish, king mackerel and swordfish, which may contain some environmental contaminants such as mercury, according to the FDA.

Eat with your mind as well as your mouth, and pay close to attention to how the fish is prepared. Fried fish and fish from fast food restaurants do not offer the same heart health benefits as baked and broiled fish. Tofu and other forms of soybeans, canola, walnuts and flaxseeds, and their oils, are also rich sources of alpha-linolenic acid, which is converted to omega-3 fatty acid in the body. Omega-3-enriched eggs are also available in supermarkets.

Fish versus fish supplements
While the American Heart Association recommends oily fish as the preferred source of omega-3 fatty acids, supplements are a convenient source for people who don’t like fish or are unable to consume the advised dosage. Side effects from the supplements are uncommon, but some report a fishy aftertaste, nausea, bloating and belching. (Try storing the supplements in the freezer to minimize the taste.)

Baber admits she has not started taking the fish oil capsules, which her doctor recommended, because she has a hard time swallowing them.

“I am not good at swallowing large pills and I’m looking for ones that are a reasonable size. I also have acid reflux and I know there are possible GI side effects. But I will give this a try because I would like to avoid taking a statin drug, if possible.”

Rene Colwell, 50, of New York City, says “fish burps” turned her off to supplements after her 2006 heart attack, but she tries to take at least half of the four capsules her doctor recommended.

“Research actually supports combination therapy of omega-3 supplements and medication for people at risk for heart disease,” says Dr. O’Keefe. Fish oil and statins are a safe and effective way to improve cardiovascular health—more so than the use of statins alone, he says.

A Good Book on Blending Families is Hard to Find ....

You need a library for the amount of guidebooks rained on you when you become a mother:  whether to use towelling nappies or disposables, when to wean, how to socialise your toddler, how to keep the lines of communication open with your teenager – the list is endless.  In fact, the sheer volume of information available to you on becoming a mother and being the best at it ever can overwhelm you.

Still, at least there’s lots of advice available, and there are always other mothers around to offer a bit of support and a listening ear – even if it is just to gloat about how much better they have it than you at the moment.  Happily, there’s also a growing wealth of information and help for stepmothers, as half of today’s marriages involve them.

There’s a variety of mother, however, that doesn’t have access to ready supplies of expertise from those who’ve gone before her.  Finding a guidebook for this brave lady has proven a frustrating exercise until now.  Hers is not a new breed, though;  for as long as there have been mothers there have been blending stepmothers, only they’ve been so busy and muddled that none of them thought to write it all down.  Either that, or they assumed that no single mother of the future would be idiotic enough to take on a new partner and his offspring in addition to her own, much less attempt to help raise them under the watchful eye of his ex.

I searched for such a book as I blundered into blending, and never found it.  I needed it – badly.  Surely I wasn’t alone?  I reasoned that there must be thousands of blending stepmothers like me out there, all at a loss and feeling more than a bit gloomy.  So here it is – “In The Blender”:  the book I wrote as I groped my way through the ups and downs, stumbling over all the ideals that my original, nuclear family had left behind.

I’ve read lots of books on stepmothering, and each one starts off with the author saying how much she didn’t want to write it.  The usual reasoning is that ‘revisiting the early days is too painful’.

I find that odd.  I really wanted to write this one on blending for a very good reason:  I could have used the support in my early days as a fledgling blending agent.  And I feel safe.  There’s a huge difference between remembering events and reliving them.  From the safety of the here and now I can look back on my bumpy road to Blending Maternity without feeling the pain of every stubbed toe all over again; hopefully, I’ll pass on a pearl or two of blending wisdom gleaned from my many interviews with other stepmothers, counsellors and life coaches.

BUY YOUR COPY OF “IN THE BLENDER” AT http://www.lulu.com/content/paperback-book/in-the-blender/7431821

Matters of the heart

Some may ask if they have moderately high cholesterol but healthy blood pressure, is it possible that they will have a greater chances of getting hypertension?

You can have high blood pressure simply because you have larger-than-life lipids.  However, while there’s no direct connection between the two, they do have some risk factors in common, explains Edward D. Frohlich, M.D., of Alton Oschner Medical Foundation and editor of the medical journal Hypertension.  Among them:  being overweight and not exercising.  So if you’re trying to lower your cholesterol by losing weight and increasing your activity level, you’re actually lowering your risk for getting hypertension, too. – Greg Gutfeld and Joe Kita

Cholesterol - What, Who, How?!

After training a client today, and being told that Cholesterol isnt affected by your diet, I’ve decided to add this!!

What is cholesterol?

Cholesterol is a soft waxy substance and is an essential body fat (lipid), that is carried around the body in the blood. Only a small amount of the cholesterol in the body comes from your diet, it is mostly made in the body by the liver. The dietary cholesterol is found in food that comes from meat, poultry, fish, seafood and dairy products.

Cholesterol is required by the body to keep itself healthy, but too much cholesterol circulating can be a health risk. As cholesterol is not water-soluble it must bind to special proteins before it can be carried via the bloodstream. Once bound they form lipoproteins, there are 2 main types of lipoproteins:

Low density lipoproteins (LDL), commonly known as bad cholesterol. LDL is the major cholesterol carrier in the blood. If there is too much LDL in the blood it can build up on artery walls. A high level of LDL cholesterol may give you an increased risk of coronary heart disease.

High density lipoproteins (HDL) commonly known as good cholesterol. HDL is actually good for maintaining the health of the heart and preventing the narrowing of the arteries as it carrie cholesterol away from the arteries and back to the liver. This is why the ratio between LDL and HDL cholesterol is important. Usually the body maintains a balance of cholesterol, making more if it needs it and getting rid of any excess.

LDL levels can be lowered by eating a low fat diet and HDL levels can be raised by exercising.

What causes cholesterol to be high?

Generally too much saturated fat in the diet is the most common cause of high cholesterol. Saturated fat encourages the body to make more cholesterol than it needs or can get rid of. However, occasionally, high cholesterol levels can be genetic. If there is too much cholesterol in the blood and the body can’t get rid of it, the unused cholesterol can builds up in the artery walls, leading to the hardening and narrowing of the arteries. This narrowing of the arteries slows down the flow of blood to your heart, this condition is known as arteriosclerosis.

If the arteries become too blocked, it restricts blood flow and a heart attack can often occur. If an artery in the brain becomes blocked this can trigger a stroke to occur.

How can I reduce my cholesterol levels?

High cholesterol is a major factor of heart disease, but it can be treated through diet and exercise. The first step in lowering cholesterol levels is to change your diet, and reduce the amount of consumed saturated fat

Food to avoid or limit:

 Fatty meats but if you do eat them cut off all the visible fat.

Sausages

Pies and pastries.

Fat or oil in cooking.

Prawns, shrimp and fish roe.

Fried foods Dairy products such as full milk, cream, cheese, butter and ice cream, egg yolks.

Cakes, crisps, biscuits, sweets and chocolate.

Better options of foods include;

Fish, especially oil rich fish such as sardines, salmon, mackerel, pilchards and trout. This type of fish contains Omega-3 fatty acids and they are thought to lower LDL cholesterol.

Poultry (chicken, veal or turkey) but remove the skin.

Low-Fat dairy products, use semi skimmed or skimmed milk, low fat yoghurts and mono or poly-unsaturated spreads.

Foods high in polyunsaturated (found in nuts, seeds and vegetable oils) and monounsaturated (found in olive, rapeseed, walnut oil and avocado) fats. Fruit and vegetables, you should eat at least 5 portions every day.

Garlic

Wholegrain breads Cereals

Baked beans and red kidney beans

Pasta and rice

Most things are avoidable, it’s whether you choose to limit or control them via exercise and good nutrition.

Byebye beeflover.

The prospect of getting old is becoming more and more real as the health concerns pile up. I worry that I’m having the worst bout of arthritis since eight years ago, I worry about the hint of varicose vein on the back of my leg that someone pointed out to me and now, I have to worry about being at high risk of getting heart diseases and stroke because of high cholesterol. And I worry that my worrying will age me even further before time.

Sometimes I can’t help feeling like I’m trapped in the body of an ailing 80-year old. There are so many things I’ve yet to accomplish, and I just wonder how long this body can keep up.

The results from a recent health screen revealed that my cholesterol levels are atrocious. To give you a rough idea, these were the given ranges to classify your LDL (bad cholesterol) level: optimal, desirable, borderline high, high, very high. And mine, without giving so much as a warning, falls immediately under the very high range.

To be honest, I was half expecting this. Not because I’ve been thrashing my diet and eating with wild abandon, but rather, because of genetics. See, my mother suffered a mild stroke not too long ago because of high LDL levels. A chunk of the cholesterol deposits lining her arteries broke away and traveled to her heart and then to her brain, where, thankfully it dispersed into smaller pieces. Had it not dispersed, that chunk could’ve blocked blood supply to her brain, causing brain damage. Following the stroke, my mother was referred to a dietitian. Not surprisingly (because I know how my mom eats), the dietitian found nothing wrong with her diet, and even commended her for eating healthy. So what was contributing to the high cholesterol? We got to know through tests later that by default, my mom’s liver was producing more bad cholesterol than the average person. The doctors warned that it’s possible for this characteristic to be genetic, and recommended to have us children checked as well.

I’m genuinely wary. The possibility of things going awry is very near and real, not only because my own mother had a brush with stroke, but also because my cholesterol level isn’t far off from my mother’s when she suffered it. And so now for the sake of health, I’m forced to significantly reduce or at best, forgo foods high in saturated fats (or high cholesterol foods as they call it). I don’t mind cutting back on other high cholesterol foods, but it’ll be like giving up the world to give up red meat and cheese. Everything that tastes so good I could die has beef and/or cheese in it. Pizza, pasta, dengdeng, black pepper steak, oreo cheesecake, the list is infinite!

Contrary to popular belief, you don’t have to be overweight to have high cholesterol. It has more to do with what you eat than how much you eat it. But if you eat high amounts of foods high in saturated fats, then needless to say that accounts for it too.

Exercise, unfortunately, cannot lower LDL levels. It can only increase your HDL level (the good cholesterol). So there really is no other way to lower your LDL levels except to take to a stringent diet or take cholesterol lowering medication.

I’ve lost a bit of faith in medicine, though. I used to have high regard for doctor’s medicine, I used to think it would take care of everything. But I’ve come to believe strongly about the side effects that come with medicine. And I’ve experienced this myself in arguably the most painful scenario of my life yet. Back in secondary school when I was diagnosed with arthritis, I saw a specialist and he gave me some medicine. Then, only a few joints were affected, but after taking the medication which were supposed to relieve me, my other joints which weren’t affected started to swell as well. This significantly affected my mobility. Simple everyday tasks became excruciating and difficult. This went on for a number of months and in the end I got so fed up popping so many pills a day that I just stopped. Miraculously after that, I got better on my own and I didn’t pop a single pill to relieve my arthritis for eight years.

I’m not completely taking an anti-medicine stand here — I’m now on steroids to relieve my arthritis that has decided to resurface after eight years. But I alternate it with natural supplements. What I’m saying is I think we shouldn’t be a hundred percent dependent on medicine, especially long-term medication. There are other natural alternatives we can look to, and they don’t come with side effects. The most recent and personal success story I can think of is that of my own mother. Some time ago she decided to stop her cholesterol medication. Not only were they incredibly expensive, they didn’t seem to lower her levels significantly. So she looked to natural alternatives, and began taking a fibre supplement called BioGreen. A few months into it, she had her cholesterol checked, and it went from ‘very high’ to ‘high’. This might not seem like much, but it is in fact great progress because my mother’s cholesterol level has never budged from the very high range, even with medication.

Ignorance is bliss, so I suppose that’s the reason the idea of going for general medical checkups don’t even cross most our minds. You feel jolly and fit as a fiddle, so why go looking for things to worry about? Admittedly it wasn’t until my company held a complimentary basic health screening that I was reminded how important it is to know the status of our own health.

Sure, some things in life are better left to chance. But health definitely isn’t one of them.

[Via http://temperamentalmoods.wordpress.com]

Cholesterol Lowering Drugs and Treatments

If you have high cholesterol, have no fear. There are a variety of cholesterol lowering drugs and treatments that can be used to address your cholesterol. Some of these treatments are simply related to making some changes to your lifestyle, whereas others involve taking medications to keep your cholesterol in check.

1. What Are Your Treatment Options?

There are a variety of options out there to help you to lower your cholesterol levels, ranging from simple changes to your lifestyle to taking medications. Based on your cholesterol test results, your healthcare provider will decide which treatment is best for you. In some cases, you may need a combination of treatments to help lower your cholesterol.

2. Changing Your Lifestyle to Lower Your Cholesterol

Lifestyle changes play a vital role in lowering your cholesterol, but they can be the most challenging, too. Changing your diet, exercising more, losing weight and/or quitting smoking are all healthy ways that you can help lower your cholesterol. In some cases, changing your lifestyle could help you to avoid taking medications to lower your cholesterol.

• Low Fat, Low Cholesterol Diet
• Lowering Your Cholesterol Through Exercise
• Stop Smoking Now

3. Medications that Can Lower Cholesterol

There are many types of cholesterol lowering drugs on the market. However, not all of them work the same. Some of these drugs may only lower your LDL (”bad” cholesterol), whereas other drugs may treat all aspects of your cholesterol profile. In any case, all of these medications are effective and your healthcare provider will select the right drug for you.The classes of cholesterol-lowering drugs are:

• Bile Acid Sequestrants
• Absorption Inhibitors
• Statins
• Fibrates
• Omega-3 Fatty Acids
• Niacin

4. Cholesterol Apheresis

Cholesterol apheresis is similar to kidney dialysis, but is used to only filter out LDL cholesterol from the blood. It isn’t a treatment that is used in everyone, though. It is mostly used as a last resort for people with very high cholesterol levels despite the use of high cholesterol lowering medications. Some people also decide to undergo this therapy because they have very high cholesterol levels, but cannot tolerate the drugs used to lower cholesterol. This procedure is effective, but it can be pretty costly, too.

5. Lowering Your Cholesterol Naturally With Herbs and Other Products

Some people may use natural products, such as herbs and spices, to help lower their cholesterol. Some of these treatments are effective, but some of them won’t help your cholesterol at all. If you decide to try a natural supplement, talk to your healthcare provider first, since some of these products could interact with other medications you are taking.

Some natural products used to lower cholesterol:

• Fiber
• Red Yeast Rice Extract
• Garlic
• Phytosterols

[Via http://healthcareforus.wordpress.com]