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September is National Cholesterol Education Month

Like the title says, September is National Cholesterol Education Month, sponsored by the National Cholesterol Education Program. Use this month as a starting point for your work to reduce your blood cholesterol levels! High cholesterol is a major risk factor for heart disease, one of the leading causes of death in the United States. Nearly one hundred million Americans have high cholesterol — more than 200 milligrams per deciliter (mg/dL) or higher. Of those one hundred million Americans, more than 34 million have high risk levels — 240 mg/dL or higher. Lowering your cholesterol levels can reduce your risk of … Continue reading →

Understanding Good and Bad Cholesterol

Most of us have heard that cholesterol is bad. Some of us have heard rumors that it can actually be good. Good and bad are nice labels for a complicated problem. Like most things in life, it’s not a matter of black and white. It’s all shades of gray. I’ll give you the basics and make it as simple as I can. From there it turns into a tricky balancing act. Here it is: LDL=Bad HDL=Good LDL (low density lipoprotein) cholesterol is the kind that sticks to the arteries in your heart and brain. It builds up and forms nasty … Continue reading →

Symbols of Love

The other day I wrote how a perfect red camellia was, for me, a symbol of love. One other time it was a vase of sweet peas. For many people flowers, in particular roses, are a symbol of love. For my father roses were anything but symbols of love. He hated roses. When Mum and Dad bought a house with beds of roses in it, every one of those roses were dug out by Mum since Dad had a bad heart and couldn’t do the digging. Their removal and absence was, in a way, a symbol of love. Of course … Continue reading →

Chinese Buffets—Nutritional No-No’s

There’s a Chinese restaurant located directly across the street from our local mall that offers a lunch buffet for $6. The other day I was running behind schedule (after running errands at the mall) and decided to pop into the restaurant for lunch with my toddler daughter. I figured the buffet was bound to have something she’d eat and the restaurant doesn’t charge for children 2 and under so I figured I’d be getting a pretty good deal—two meals for $6. Later that night I learned that I got more than I bargained for. My daughter enjoyed the General Tso’s … Continue reading →

How Big is Your LDL?

I recently talked with you about the difference between good and bad cholesterol. Here’s a summary for you before I get started on this next part. LDL=Bad HDL=Good LDL represents the kind of cholesterol scientists associate with arterial plaque- build-up that causes blockages related to heart attacks and strokes. Well, now they’ve taken an even closer look at this sticky artery blocking stuff and determined that size matters. Apparently LDL molecules come in all different sizes from small to very large. The small molecules are more concentrated. They move more sluggishly through the blood stream. The larger ones seem to … Continue reading →