Cut Cholesterol With Your Mind

by Aimee Amodio | More from this Blogger

19 Jan 2008 07:18 PM

More proof that mind really is stronger than matter: a recent study from Oregon State University found that keeping your cool can keep your cholesterol at a healthy level.

More than seven hundred men took part in a study from Oregon State University focusing on staying calm in stressful situations. Those men who managed to stay calm when provoked kept their HDL (good) cholesterol levels steady. Some even experienced an elevation in HDL cholesterol levels! You definitely want to keep good cholesterol around.

Men in the study who didn't stay calm had lower HDL levels and higher triglycerides. Neither group -- the cool under fire guys and the short fuse guys -- experienced any change in LDL (bad) cholesterol levels.

The study authors believe that they will see similar results when the study is repeated with female subjects. The Oregon State University team is pretty sure that stress hormones are to blame for the connection between mood and cholesterol.

The bottom line: your mood can help manage your cholesterol. If anger is an issue for you, work on your self control. It isn't just good for your mind, it's good for your body, too.

• Look for patterns. Are there certain things that set your blood boiling? Try to avoid these situations, if you can.
• If you can't avoid situations where you're going to get angry, at least you know they're coming. Don't let the anger take you by surprise! Knowing that you're probably going to get ticked off may help you stay calmer.
• Take a time out. Don't just push through when you're angry. Leave the room if you have to. Do some slow, deep breathing.
• Take ten (or a hundred). The old advice about counting to keep your anger in check really can help. Count slowly to ten (or keep going) until you've got yourself under control again.

Learn more about Aimee Amodio

Aimee is a fiction writer... dog lover... music lover...

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