What is cholesterol ?
Cholesterol in itself is a natural function of the human body. Every living being requires a certain amount of fat to exist. Like everything in nature, it only becomes a problem when there is an imbalance.
The processing of fat begins when it gets absorbed in the intestines. From there it heads to the liver. The fat requires a delivery system to the rest of the body to be used immediately but also to be stored in fat cells for future use.
In order for the fat to enter the delivery system, it is split into two different types of fat - cholesterol and triglycerides - while it is in the liver.
Once this transformation takes place, these two types of fat are packed into vehicles for carrying the fat to the fat cells throughout the body using the bloodstream. These vehicles are called lipoproteins.
Start thinking like a thin person
Your struggle with weight might have begun while you were a child, as you attempted to find out just how many cookies you could eat at one sitting.
Or it might have occurred shortly after you arrived on a college campus for the first time. Those late nights of studying might have led to late-night binging sessions.
Or maybe you gained weight after the birth of your first child, and have been unable to shed the weight ever since.
No matter what the cause, weight gain is a serious matter. It can affect your energy level, your stamina, and your overall health. Obesity has been linked to a number of diseases, including heart disease, cancer, and diabetes.
Once you determine that you are overweight, you have to make a commitment to bring your weight under control. This can be a daunting venture. You have turned overeating into a habit, and reversing that habit can be difficult. In essence, you have taught yourself to think like a fat person. In order to reverse this trend, you need to learn to think like a thin person.
Are you addicted to carbs?
It has been estimated that three out of every four overweight people are addicted to carbohydrates. But what does this mean?
In essence, it means that you have too much of the hormone insulin in your system. This insulin prompts you to eat often and to consume the wrong types of foods.
Some of the tell-tale signs of carbohydrate addiction include fatigue, mood swings, and migraines which can be caused by low blood sugar.
A carb addiction can lead you to consume a whole bag of pretzels at one sitting, or to eat half a cake at dinner time. Your body is conditioned to eat as many carbs as possible. So it seems that no matter how much or how often you eat, you’re never really satisfied.
Arthritic diets and nutrition
There is a great deal of debate in the medical world about the effects of overall diet on arthritis and using diet towards alleviating the condition. Although doctors have known for a long time that diet affects gout, a specific type of arthritic condition, the jury remained out for a long time on other common types of arthritis such as rheumatoid and osteoarthritis.
However, overall dietary health is important and does come into play. Being overweight can affect certain arthritic conditions, forcing some joints to carry more of a load. This added weight stresses the joints, causing overuse or more wear to components, and pain, especially in the knees.
So making sure arthritic sufferers eat good food and get help from healthcare providers to create and follow a well-balanced dietary plan is advised.
Here is a look at some vitamins, minerals and herbal applications to consider.
Healthy eating for a healthy body
Healthy eating means many things to many people, and everyone has different goals for the perfect diet. The key to following a healthy diet is to find a diet you can stick with for the rest of your life. A diet should not be simply a temporary change in the way you life, eat and exercise. Rather, it should be a permanent change that you can live with day in and day out, year in and year out.
For some people, a healthy diet can be as simple as increasing the amount of fruits and vegetables in the daily diet. For others, a radical change, involving strict control of fat and cholesterol, may be required.
Of course what is needed will depend on the goals and needs of each individual. The serious runner in search of greater conditioning will have different goals than the couch potato who is concerned about the possibility of heart disease.
Even though every person will different goals when it comes to healthy eating, the basic tenets of healthy eating are the same. The most important thing is to eat a good variety of foods, while eating less of the bad stuff and more of the good.
That may sound like an oversimplification, but it really is that easy.