Tuesday, April 6, 2010

Welcome to Heart Tips Tuesday - let's talk about cholesterol & products




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Greetings Sweet Friends,
 Welcome to Heart Tips Tuesday,
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Hope this day finds you well and happy!
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It is an absolutely gorgeous day here,  not 
a cloud in the sky, all sunny blue,  but quite
warm,  in the lower 80's.  Rosie and I  just
came in from sun bathing,  gotta get that 
vitamin D, and this is one of the best ways.
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Joey went home last night,  so I just have
Rosie today, but we are having fun!
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Thought today we would talk about that
lovely word "Cholesterol".  I am sure many
of you are already familiar with the word
cause you have probably heard it from your
 Dr., like in the sentence " your cholesterol 
it is too high"!!
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If you have heart problems, particularly 
coronary artery disease, (CAD, for short)
this is one of the things they watch very
closely!  They tests hubbies blood every
6 months for this, and triglycerides and 
other things too, because of meds he is on.
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Cholesterol is the soft, fatty substance
found in your body's cell.  Your body
makes cholesterol and the saturated fats
you eat also contribute to your blood
cholesterol level.  Saturated fats come 
from meats and whole dairy products,
as well as from vegetable oils, such as
coconut, palm and hydrogenated oil
found in margarine and many boxed
foods. Too many fats - saturated fats
in particular - can raise your blood
cholesterol level and cause and increased
risk of coronary heart problems.
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(This last paragraph came right out of a booklet
we rec'd from our insurance company yesterday
 on managing CAD (Great timing since I was 
thinking about doing my post on that today).
The bold  print is from me, and  I am really shocked 
they did not say  that, cause they certainly should
 have, it is a major source for hydrogenated oils
 or partially hydrogenated oils in our quick meal
 preparation society).
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The text you saw in pink above are also the reason you
 eat Chicken, Turkey  and fish mostly,  because beef
 and pork are higher in saturated fat.  Also the reason
 to use low fat dairy or no fat dairy products.
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Cholesterol and fats use special carriers called
lipoproteins to travel through your bloodstream
to cells throughtout your body.
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Low-density lipoproteins (called LDL) or bad
cholesterol contributes to plaque buildup on the
walls of your arteries, causing blockage, blood
clots and heart attack and stroke.  It caused
my hubby a heart attack and blockages that
lead to bypass surgery and stents.
It is serious stuff, so if you have high cholesterol
now,  do whatever you can to work with the
Dr. to get it down.
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High-density lipoproteins (called HDL) or good
cholesterol protects you,  so it's important to 
keep that level as high as possible.
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The Goal to Reduce your Cholesterol
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Total Cholesterol
Should be under 200 mg./dl
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Your LDL (Bad) should be less than 100 mg/dl
but if you have CAD or risk factors
Your Dr. will probably want your LDL
to be less than 70 mg./dl
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Your HDL (Good) should be greater than
40 mg./dl
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Your triglycerides should be less than 
150 mg./dl
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Eating oatmeal, walnuts and almond are
great for helping with that, and of course,
a low fat diet,  and exercise. Sometimes you
 need cholesterol reducing or increasing  meds. 
 My husbands bad cholesterol
was under control but his good cholesterol
 was too low,  so the Dr. changed him to a
 med called Crestor because it was very 
good for increasing good cholesterol.
They want that to be high as possible
 because it protects you from heart 
attacks. The Crestor has worked
well on Jimmy,  so if you are having
that problem and are not taking Crestor, 
 you might want to ask your Dr. about it.
  It is very much like lipitor and the others, 
 it just has that added feature from what
our Dr. said.
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Now for a few products that you might
like to try:

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These are great if you have a sweet tooth.
These plum sweets are delicious and have fiber
and the candy is also delicious and satisfying
with just one of those squares.  We probably
would not have tried this Citrus Sunset but we
happened to find them somewhere on sale, so
decided to give them a try,  now we will buy
them more often, now that we know they are
really quite good! 
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I may have shown you these before,  not
sure.  This makes great macaroni and cheese.
And it is great to have lower sodium bouillon,
cause most of it is soooo salty!
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These Sweet Potato fries are awesome and they
are made with Sunflower oil.  Alexia also had other
potatoes that are great too! It is also great that Dole
has all this frozen fruit so that even when it isn't
 in season you can still  have it,  and sometimes even
 when it is in season it can be less expensive to
 buy it this way!
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Hope you find something in this post that you
can use to make life better for you and yours.
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Have a fun and Springy Evening!
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Hugs n' Blessings,
Nellie

3 comments:

  1. Hi Nellie! Another great post on eating healthy! We enjoy those sweet potato fries from time to time!!

    Thank you for the BHG card ideas! There were some really cute ones!

    Love you gal!
    We'll talk soon!
    Becky

    ReplyDelete
  2. Hi there, What a wonderful post; hubby and I now read every label before we buy. I love Sweet Potato fries too and also grilling sweet potatoes. There are some natural products, such as apple cider vinegar(raw,unfiltered)that will help as well.
    Hugs to you my friend.
    Noreen

    ReplyDelete
  3. Interesting post! Thanks for all the information. I have been doing so much better with cooking more from scratch. I haven't made frozen french fries in months. Been making my own, roasting them in the oven. They come out nice and crispy.

    I wanted to tell you about a product that I love and found recently. They're Thomas' Bagel Thins. They're only 100 calories and really DELICIOUS!!! Toasted with a piece of cheese is perfect in the morning. We love bagels up north and this really satisfies my bagel cravings!

    Love all the pretty flowers you've been receiving. Enjoy your day!

    ReplyDelete

Special thanks to all who take the time to leave comments..........They are very encouraging and very appreciated. I enjoy every one of them so much!!
May the Lord Bless You!!
Nellie

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