healthy living

Low-density lipoproteins (LDL) is known as the bad type of cholesterol. LDL carry cholesterol from your liver to the cells that need it. 

High-density lipoprotein (HDL) is known as the good type of cholesterol. HDL carry cholesterol away from the cells and back to the liver to be broken down.

Eating a diet that is high in saturated fat

smoking

lack of physical exercise

high alcohol intake, or

kidney or liver disease. 

Having an inherited condition known as familial hypercholesterolaemia (FH) can also cause exceptionally high cholesterol even if you have a healthy lifestyle.

There are many types of drugs to help lower blood cholesterol-lowering medicines, and they work in different ways. Statins are one kind of drug that lower cholesterol.

Skip the juice and choose whole fruit for more fiber. "Eat your fruits and vegetables." We've likely heard this statement since childhood.

• reduce risk for heart disease, including heart attack and stroke.
• may protect against certain types of cancers.
• Diets rich in foods containing fiber, such as some vegetables and fruits, may reduce the risk of heart disease, obesity, and type 2 diabetes.
• may lower blood pressure, and may also reduce the risk of developing kidney stones and help to decrease bone loss.

• Most vegetables are naturally low in fat and calories. None have cholesterol. (Sauces or seasonings may add fat, calories, or cholesterol.)
• Vegetables are important sources of many nutrients, including potassium, dietary fiber, folate (folic acid), vitamin A, and vitamin C.
• Diets rich in potassium may help to maintain healthy blood pressure. Vegetable sources of potassium include sweet potatoes, white potatoes, white beans, tomato products (paste, sauce, and juice), beet greens, soybeans, lima beans, spinach, lentils, and kidney beans.
• Dietary fiber from vegetables, as part of an overall healthy diet, helps reduce blood cholesterol levels and may lower risk of heart disease. Fiber is important for proper bowel function. It helps reduce constipation and diverticulosis. Fiber-containing foods such as vegetables help provide a feeling of fullness with fewer calories.
• Folate (folic acid) helps the body form red blood cells. Women of childbearing age who may become pregnant should consume adequate folate from foods, and in addition 400 mcg of synthetic folic acid from fortified foods or supplements. This reduces the risk of neural tube defects, spina bifida, and anencephaly during fetal development. Vitamin A keeps eyes and skin healthy and helps to protect against infections.
• Vitamin C helps heal cuts and wounds and keeps teeth and gums healthy. The following are some of the fruits and vegetables are recommended Squash and Cruciferous Vegetables

Long-term weight loss is not an easy goal to achieve, for one very important reason: it’s hard to change old habits. You might do well sticking to a diet for the short-term, but for the long-term, habits will rule. You want to start a new diet, but the old eating habits don’t die easily. I’ll show you how to change your habits, but first let’s take a brief look at what habits to form.

• Eat whole foods — whole grains, nuts, seeds, veggies, fruits, non-fried protein — instead of sweets, fried foods, processed carbs.
• Exercise each day — walk, do some bodyweight exercises, run, do a short intense workout, etc.

• Replace an old habit with the new habit. Start with just one habit for now, to make it more likely that it’ll stick. Let’s say you want to eat more veggies. Instead of snacking on chips or sweets in the afternoon, snack on carrots/broccoli and hummus.
• Keep the habit small. We tend to be ambitious and do a lot at first. Then we crash and do nothing. But in the beginning, keep it small if you want it to stick.
• Focus on the enjoyment. Instead of thinking, “I have to do this” think, “I get to do this.” And enjoy the crap out of it. Then the habit itself becomes the reward.
• Have some accountability. Commit to doing something really embarrassing if you don’t stick to the habit each week.

from http://thewellnessscientist.com

Losing weight for most people, it takes time. Some forms of dieting can be unhealthy at best, and counterproductive at worst. However, there is still hope. If you're serious about losing weight and want to see an immediate difference in your body in less than 7 days, follow these helpful tip.

1. Form a diet that minimizes starches, and sugars. Bad starches and sugars to stay away from include: potato chips, fries, white breads, pastries, soft drinks, candies, and cakes. These will all keep you from realizing your weight loss goal.
2. Form a diet that is rich in vegetables, fiber, and lean protein. All these foods are less prone to being converted into fat, and come packed with healthy vitamins, minerals, and antioxidants.
3. Drink water instead of sugary drinks. Water will help your immune system stay healthy, keep your skin looking great, and give you more lasting energy to do the things you need to do during the day. Sodas, juices, and other sugary drinks aren't the way to go if you want to shed pounds off of your frame. Unsweetened green tea is another good substitute for sugary drinks. Green tea contains a good amount of antioxidants, meaning that it helps your body fight against free radicals, which enhance signs of aging in humans.
4. Use dieting tips to form good habits. We all cheat now and then, and that's fine. But we can make it harder on ourselves to cheat in the first place, giving us an incentive to follow our diet more strictly and diligently.
5. Keep a food journal. If you keep track of your diet and one week goes particularly well, you can try replicating your diet to achieve the same results.
6. Never skipping meals, never eating late at night, and don't forget breakfast. A good breakfast will help you jumpstart your metabolism, keep it going throughout the day, and gently wind down as night comes. Eating right before sleeping is a bad idea because your body often doesn't metabolize all the calories, instead converting them into fat.

1. Stretch before you exercise. Be prepared to stretch for 5 to 10 minutes — slowly and effectively — before you exercise. Stretching will keep you from getting injured.
2. During your warm-up routine, try to break a sweat. Think of it this way: breaking a sweat means you're exerting yourself more, which means you're burning more calories. The more calories you burn, the more weight you'll lose. That's a good thing.
3. Keep sweating throughout your entire workout. Now that you've set the tone during your warm-up, keep the intensity ramped up. Losing weight is going to require one hour of moderate exercise per day.
4. Do one hour of cardio a day, working at a moderate pace at least.
5. Complement your cardio with strength training. Strength training can be anything from yoga and Pilates to resistance or weight training.
6. Do interval training. Interval training is short bursts of high intensity workout followed by longer intervals of mellow exercise, repeating throughout.
7. Pace yourself. The good news is that if you pace yourself while exercising, you're less likely to feel burned-out and more motivated to finish your regimen at your maximum intensity. That's a good omen for calorie-burning.

1. Burn more calories than you take in as food. This is actually the most effective way to think about weight loss.
2. Starving yourself will make you gain weight, not lose it. Why? When a person starves him/herself, the body realizes it is getting less food, causing its metabolism to slow down in order to save energy. When this happens, your body starts eating its muscle supply, basically, consuming lean tissue instead of fat reserves.
3. Any quick weight-loss regimen should also be accompanied by exercise. The truth is that if you want to lose quickly, you're not going to do it merely by eating right. You will lose weight, but it will take time. 
4. Stress can cause weight-gain. When your body is under stress, it released adrenaline — the fight or flight hormone. But your body also releases cortisol, another hormone. When the adrenaline wears off, which happens quickly, all that's left is the cortisol. The cortisol causes us to want to eat, because we've spent precious energy using our adrenaline to potentially save our life.
5. Results will take time. If your goal is to lose 2 pounds in 7 days, that's probably double. If your goal is to lose 7 pounds in 7 days, it's not going to happen. On top of that, it's not healthy. Be reasonable about what your goals are so you don't get down on yourself when you fail to meet them.
6. Too many people expect immediate results and then get discouraged when they aren't able to see them. Well, life isn't fair, and it's never easy, is it?