Cholesterol Awareness

Right out of the gate I am going to keep this as simple as I can. This isn't a lesson in anatomy but rather a guideline to safeguard your health. In order to understand your choices I must first explain to you the importance of monitoring your cholesterol and how important the choices you make in your diet can make you feel great, even lose weight or can contribute to killing you!I

I am going to refer you to http://www.webmd.com/cholesterol-management/guide/understanding-numbers I like the direct way this website gives you the facts. Straight and to the point. You will find the actual level guidelines to help you understand your cholesterol levels. It is very important that you get your cholesterol level checked at a young age, let's say 20. You then know your baseline and will also be alerted early on if you have a tendency to have a problem with high cholesterol. My interest in this topic is that my levels are off the charts dangerous and I don't have medical insurance so I need to figure out how to take care of this within my means. My means being what I put in my mouth matters and exercise matters too! So I will walk you through and as I learn I will share. We have to start somewhere...right???

Choosing your foods

Remembering a couple of basic things will help you make a good decision when you're not sure. First, you really want to stay away from processed food. Definitely stay away from deep fried. The oil they cook in is high in bad fats (saturated fats). You need to slowly learn how to read labels. Fats and the type of fats is important. This is the stuff you really need to know. So read the next thing in bold and retain it. It is pertinent in reading your food labels.

"Good" fats—monounsaturated and polyunsaturated fats—lower disease risk

"Bad" fats—saturated and, especially, trans fats—increase disease risk

A quick idea of what a "good fat" is (which we'll revisit it further) olive, canola, soy, sunflower and peanut oil. Fish high in Omega 3s, i.e. salmon, etc., almonds, walnuts just to give you an idea. I'm currently putting together a list for my own use until I get used to this that I will share with you during this series.

I think you have enough to take in for one reading. I think introducing this in a series will be less overwhelming. It is important that you take your time and understand.