Most health experts believe we should be getting 25-35 grams of fiber every day.  As Americans, we consume on average 10-15 grams of fiber a day.  This is a problem.

The consumption of fiber in the human population has continued to decrease over the course of human history.  In the last couple centuries it has taken a dive.  This most recent drop seems to have started with the genesis of food processing.  All that processing removes valuable fiber, as well as other nutrients.  Add that loss of fiber to America’s preference for poor food choices, and it’s easy to see how our fiber intake is decreased.

A Hole in Our Diets

Progressively, we have been exchanging high fiber, whole food products such as whole grains, beans, nuts, seeds, fruits and vegetables for processed grains, potatoes with no skins, sugar, and processed oils.  This has left a huge hole in our diets, especially considering the health benefits of fiber. 

Beyond the Basics

Most people are familiar with using fiber for constipation, but research in the last century has shown fiber to be benenficial for much more.  Fiber is broken down by good bacteria in our intestines.  It is a source of food for them, but when they have digested the fiber it serves as fuel for our intestinal cells.  Fiber is also beneficial for removing toxins from the body.  It has been shown in studies to help with maintainence of healthy weight and weight loss.

Fiber Helps More Than Just Digestion

Soluble fiber, such as those found in oats and beans, help lower cholesterol and triglycerides in the blood.   Beta glucans, the soluble fiber from oats, have been allowed to carry a heart health claim by the FDA.  Soluble fiber is also beneficial for promoting maintenance of healthy blood sugar levels, which makes it especially important for diabetics.  Heart disease and diabetes are two of the most critical issues facing Americans today.  Finding one natural substance that helps fight both conditions is good news for the health world.

Time for Change

In an era of elimination issues, cardiovascular disease, and sugar imbalance, fiber is an important element to to return to our diets.   Since it is abundant in many whole vegetable-based foods, it is not difficult to add back into the diet.  It just takes a little conscious effort, and maybe a slightly longer preparation time for dinner.

The term “metabolic syndrome” probably sounds like a term that is best left in the circle of the medical elite.  Well, I think it’s a concept that should be better understood by all Americans.  Metabolic Syndrome is a very American disease, for lack of a better term.  It only occurs in affluent nations.  Approximately 50 million Americans have this syndrome.  To understand this syndrome is to understand a major sickness affecting our nation today.

Increasing in Frequency

Metabolic syndrome is a risk factor for heart disease, stroke, and diabetes.  One focus of ATP III is the management of metabolic syndrome (syndrome X). Metabolic syndrome is a combination of risk factors such as high blood sugar levels, high triglycerides, low HDL cholesterol, obesity and high blood pressure. This syndrome is becoming more common in America and is being given more attention by the American Heart Association and other leading organizations.

There’s Still Hope

Metabolic syndrome is highly influenced by diet and life style choices.  Because it’s based on America’s bad diet, it’s necessary to include a variety of whole foods such as beans, nuts, seeds, whole grains, whole fruits,  and vegetables.  The only sure way to avoid Syndrome X is to lead a healthy life.

Total Cholesterol

Cholesterol is a substance that has many beneficial functions in the body.  When too much is consumed or produced by the body and not enough is removed you can end up with excessive amounts.  Cholesterol can build up in the arteries and cut off blood supply to the heart and other areas of the body.  Having healthy cholesterol levels has been shown to lower the risk of heart disease and stroke. 

LDL Cholesterol

LDL (low density lipoprotein) is a combination of fat (lipid) and protein. LDL is a carrier for fat and cholesterol. It takes fat and cholesterol from the liver and transports it through the bloodstream. It eventually drops of the fat and cholesterol off at the cells to be utilized. High levels of LDL cholesterol are a major risk factor for coronary heart disease.  The LDL cholesterol number is the main therapeutic target for intervention.  All of the other numbers on your blood test determine what approach the doctor will take in lowering LDL cholesterol.

HDL Cholesterol

HDL runs opposite LDL and carries fat and cholesterol from the cells, through the bloodstream, and to the liver to be metabolized or excreted. Low levels of HDL in the blood are an independent risk factor for coronary heart disease.  High levels of HDL protect the heart by carrying away cholesterol that could build up in the walls of the arteries. 

Triglycerides

Triglyceride is a term that describes a common way fat is found in the body. Triglycerides are three fat molecules attached to another molecule called glycerol. Generally, when the term triglycerides is used in your doctor’s office it refers to the amount of fat found in the blood. There is an association between high triglyceride levels and coronary heart disease.

http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/heart-disease/HB00016

http://www.americanheart.org/downloadable/heart/110141046508901%20CholLevls.pdf

(In mg/dL)

As we stated in the previous post the main target for whether or not cholesterol therapy is recommended is based on your LDL cholesterol score.

LDL Target Goals

• Risk Factors LDL Goal (in mg/dL)
• CHD or CHD Equivalents < 100
• Multiple Risk Factors (2 or more) < 130
• 0-1 Risk Factors < 160

CHD Equivalents – As shown in the chart above these modify your LDL Goal

• Currently having a disease that involves atherosclerosis in other parts of the body (leg, neck, etc)
• Diabetes
• A combination of other risk factors that put you at >20% risk of having CHD in the next 10 years.

Risk Factors – These also Modify your LDL Cholesterol Goals

• Cigarette Smoking
• High Blood Pressure (>140/90 mmHG or on High blood pressure medication)
• Low HDL cholesterol (<40 mg/dL)
• Family History of Early CHD (Father or brother who had a heart attack before age 55 or a mother or sister who had a heart attack before age 65)
• Age
  • Male:  > 45
  • Female:  > 55

I was thinking about exercise today. Whenever I talk to customers about exercise, they get a little hesitant. Once I explain how exercise and being a gym-rat don’t go hand in hand, there’s a sigh of relief. Heart-healthy exercise can actually be quite fun and can fit into most people’s schedules.  Even small amounts of exercise, like doing every day things, can produce significant changes in your cholesterol score.

I thought it might be helpful to give you a primer of some of the things that exercise can do:

Look, if there was a pill I could sell that helped cholesterol without exercise I would be a millionaire.  (Scratch that — billionaire.)  Fact is, there are companies out there who try to sell do-everything pills. But there’s no magic fix. Changes to your diet and exercise are what helps the mo,t. Even if you’re required by your doctor to take medication, you’ll still need to make exercise part of your life style change.

Exercise Makes a Difference in Lowering Cholesterol…It Can Be Easy!

From the chart above you can see lowering cholesterol is just one of many results exercising can produce. Even more important is to realize every day activities can produce calorie-burning, cholesterol-lowering results. Here’s some suggestions…Try these for 30 to 45 minutes every other day to get your heart rate going.  Some of your options can actually be quite enjoyable.  Exercise can be fun, and you’re likely to see results pretty quickly.

• Walking the neighborhood
• Walking the local indoor shopping mall (great tip for cold months)
• Gardening
• Raking Leaves
• Stairwalking
• Jogging 1 mile
• Swimming
• Fast Dancing
• Pushing a stroller (Hey, who doesn’t love to go for walks with the kids or grandkids!?)

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