Top Nine Ways to Slash Your Cholesterol

Why should I care about my cholesterol level?
High cholesterol is a leading risk factor for heart disease. Excess cholesterol in the bloodstream can form plaque in artery walls. The cholesterol or plaque build-up causes arteries to become thicker, harder and less flexible, slowing down and sometimes blocking blood flow to the heart.

“When blood flow is restricted, angina (chest pain) can result. When blood flow is severely impaired and a clot stops blood flow completely, a heart attack results.”

So…take the following recommendations to heart ♥:

1.) Eat a variety of grain products, including whole grains.

2.) Make the mainstay of your diet fat-free dairy products, fish, legumes (beans), skinless poultry and lean meats are the mainstay of your diet.

3.) Choose fats and oils with liquid/tub margarine, canola and olive oils and no trans fats.

4.) Balance the number of calories you eat with the number you use each day. (To find that number, multiply the number of pounds you weigh now by 15 calories. This represents the average number of calories used in one day if you’re moderately active. If you’re sedentary, multiply your weight by 13 instead of 15. Less-active people burn fewer calories).

5.) Maintain a level of physical activity that keeps you fit and matches the number of calories you eat. Walk or do other activities for at least 30 minutes on most days.

6.) Limit your intake of foods high in calories or low in nutrition, including foods like soft drinks, and candy that have lots of sugars.

7.) Limit foods high in saturated fat, trans fat and cholesterol, such as whole milk, fatty meats, tropical oils, partially hydrogenated vegetable oils and egg yolks.

8.) Try to limit salt. Even if you do not have a heart condition, overdoing on the salt is never a good idea.

9.) Have no more than one alcoholic drink per day if you’re a woman and no more than 2 if you’re a man. Examples of one drink include: 12 oz of beer, 4 oz of wine, 1 ½ oz of 80-proof spirits or 1 oz of 100-proof spirits.

What percentage of the human body is composed of w...

In general, our bodies are made up of about 2/3 water (about 60%). But, in actuality, different people have different percentages of their bodies made up of water.

“Babies have the most, being born at about 78% water. By one year of age, that amount drops to about 65%.”

In adult men, about 60% of their bodies are water. However, fat tissue does not hold as much water as lean tissue (and men have more lean tissue than women). Thus, since fat makes up more of the female body, their bodies are made up of less water, or about 55%. Fat men also have less water (percentage) than thin men.

“In general, the higher the percentage fat tissue an individual has, the lower the percentage total water content in the body.”

Rule of thumb for discrepancies in percentage water in the human body:
1) Babies and kids have a higher percentage body water than adults.
2) Women have a lower percentage body water than men (due to having more fat tissue).
3) The more fat tissue someone has, the less percentage body water and vice versa.