January 17, 2013

Triglycerides - Overview and why is it unhealthy to have high triglycerides

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Triglycerides are a type of fat found in the blood. Most of your body's fat is stored as triglycerides.

Your doctor has probably tested your blood for cholesterol at various times. This lipid, or fat, test measures your total cholesterol, HDL ("good") cholesterol, LDL ("bad") cholesterol, and your triglycerides. Your triglyceride level can tell your doctor a lot about your health.

Sources of Triglycerides

Food is one source of triglycerides. Your liver also produces them. If you eat extra calories-especially carbohydrates-your liver increases the production of triglycerides. The excess triglycerides that you consume-or that your body creates-are stored in fat cells for later use. When they're needed, your body releases them as fatty acids, which fuel body movement, create heat, and provide energy for body processes.

What is a Healthy Triglyceride Level?

For good health, your triglyceride level should be less than 150 mg/dL, according to the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute. Border-line high levels are 150 to 199 mg/dL; high is 200 to 499 mg/dL; and very high is 500 mg/dL and greater.

Health Conditions and Risks Associated with High Triglycerides
Triglycerides and other fats in your blood travel via special carriers called lipoproteins. A high triglyceride level can be cause for concern because some lipoproteins that are rich in triglycerides also contain cholesterol. This can lead to atherosclerosis (narrowing of the arteries) in people with high triglycerides. A person with high triglycerides often has other risk factors for heart disease, such as a low HDL level or diabetes. Very high levels of triglycerides are associated with inflammation of the pancreas. People who are overweight or obese frequently have higher than normal levels of triglycerides. All these conditions may increase your risk for developing heart disease or of having a heart attack or stroke.

Lifestyle Changes

Fortunately, lifestyle changes may help you manage your triglyceride levels and other risk factors for heart disease. Get regular exercise, and if you're overweight, lose weight. Making the following adjustments to your diet also may help:
  • Consume less saturated fat.
  • Limit fat calories to less than 30 percent of your total caloric intake.
  • Eat foods high in omega-3 fatty acids. These fats, found in fish, play a role in helping keep triglycerides down.
  • Get 25 to 30 grams of fiber a day.
  • Cut back on alcohol. Talk with your doctor about how much, if any, alcohol you should consume.
If exercise and changes in your diet don't lower your triglyceride level, your doctor may recommend medication.

Triglycerides are the chemical form taken by most of the fat in our bodies and our diet, and they're important because they provide energy the body needs. The fats, carbohydrates, and proteins we eat are converted in the body into simple triglyceride molecules and repackaged with special proteins called lipoproteins, which ferry the triglycerides to the cells. Blood triglyceride levels spike right after we eat, when these triglyceride/lipoprotein packages get dumped into the bloodstream. Levels drop over the next few hours as the triglycerides are taken up and used for energy. Those not needed immediately are transported to fat cells for storage.

Excessive triglycerides are not good for the arteries. Research has found links between high triglyceride levels and a high risk of stroke and heart disease, especially in postmenopausal women.

Some people have an inherited predisposition to high triglycerides. Other contributing factors are obesity, excessive alcohol use, a diet high in saturated fats, and various medical conditions, such as poorly controlled diabetes, low thyroid hormone, or chronic kidney or liver disease. Triglyceride levels can also be raised by certain medications, including prednisone, estrogens used in oral contraceptives or hormone therapy, thiazide diuretics, isotretinoin (Accutane), tamoxifen, and some beta blockers.

It makes sense to try to lower triglycerides to normal levels, that is, below 150 milligrams per deciliter. If there are medical reasons for your high triglycerides, you'll need to work with your clinician to address them, possibly with medications. If not, concentrate on lifestyle strategies, including a diet that emphasizes whole grains, fruits, vegetables, and healthy fats. Also, get at least 30 minutes of moderate to vigorous-intensity exercise most days, and keep your alcohol intake to a minimum.

If lifestyle changes don't work, or if your triglyceride level is very high, you may need to take a medication, such as niacin, gemfibrozil (Lopid, generic), or fenofibrate (Antara, TriCor, others).

source:bettermedicine.com

January 11, 2013

Why knowing your Body Mass Index (BMI) is important

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What is body mass index?

Determining how much you should weigh is not a simple matter of looking at an insurance height-weight chart, but includes considering the amount of bone, muscle, and fat in your body's composition. The amount of fat is the critical measurement.

A good indicator of how much fat you carry is the Body Mass Index (BMI). Although it is not a perfect measure, it gives a fairly accurate assessment of how much of your body is composed of fat.

Calculate your BMI using the English formula

BMI can be calculated using pounds and inches:
BMI = (weight in pounds x 703) / (height in Inches x height in Inches)
For example, a person who weighs 165 pounds and is 5 feet 4 inches tall has a BMI of 28.
(165 lbs x 703) / (64 inches x 64 inches) = 28


Calculate your BMI using the metric formula

BMI can be calculated using kilograms and meters:
BMI = weight in kilograms / (height in meters x height in meters)
For example, a person who weighs 99.79 Kilograms and is 1.905 meters tall has a BMI of 27.5.

99.79 Kg / (1.905 meters x 1.905 meters)= 27.5

A BMI between 25 and 29 is considered overweight. Anything over 30 is considered obese.

January 10, 2013

Beer – The bitter-better drink

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 We all know that red wine is rich in heart-friendly antioxidants. But did you know that your favourite beer could be healthier than you realise. Beer can help you lower the risk of heart diseases, strokes, gallstones and kidney stones! Gone are the days when beer was associated with sagging bellies; your favourite pint is now gaining a status of a drink with health benefits – of course when consumed in moderation! 

This means, while men can consume about 710 ml of beer per day, women should limit it to 355 ml, to reap the health benefits. If you overdo it, just like any alcohol, beer too can take its toll on your health. So let’s look at the benefits and risks of drinking beer. 

Benefits of drinking beer 

Helps protect bones: Beer, when consumed in moderation, is said to protect your bone health as it is high in silicon content. Several studies have shown that beer may help in preventing bone loss and also rebuild bone mass in men and young women. However, no benefits have been seen in women in the post-menopausal stage.  

Healthy heart: Just like an apple a day keeps the doctor away, a beer a day may help you keep heart diseases away. Moderate consumption of beer has many benefits and one of them is the significant increase in HDL (good) cholesterol. The good cholesterol has anti-clotting effects which keeps the blood vessels clear and healthy.  

Healthy kidneys: A study conducted by Finnish researchers found that people who consumed beer were at a lower risk of developing kidney stones when compared to those who drank other types of alcohol. And this benefit could be due to the high water content in beer. In addition, the beer’s hops – a flower which gives beer its bitterness and also acts as a preservative — is said to prevent kidney stones as it slows down the release of calcium from bones. Apart from this, beer is also a rich source of vitamins, minerals such as magnesium, potassium, phosphorus and plenty of B vitamins.
 

Risks of drinking beer  

Beer belly: Everyone says that drinking beer makes you fat or at least develop ‘beer belly’. The fact is that beer contains almost no fat or nutrition. However, it does contain a lot of calories. And if you are trying to lose weight, you must know that alcohol does not let your body burn a lot of stored fat for energy. Actually, when you drink beer, your liver produces a substance called acetate with the help of the alcohol in the beer and your body, instead of using the fat stored on your hips and belly, burns this acetate for energy.  

Heartburns: Drinking too much beer can cause heart burn as it contains powerful stimulants of gastric acid secretion leading to gastro-esophageal reflux.  

Dehydration: You would do anything for a mug of beer after a long day outside in hot weather. Though beer is 95 per cent water, it is a diuretic. And since the alcohol in the beer interferes with the release of an antidiuretic hormone in your body, it makes you rush to the bathroom more often than you like. So if you drink beer, you will lose fluid through sweating as well as urine, dehydrating you completely. Also, make sure never to drink beer instead of water. 

In addition, beer can affect your blood sugar levels despite being low in sugar. As beer contains alcohol, it has the ability to drop the level of sugar in your blood. This will lead to low energy levels and if you end up drinking too much beer, you will surely hit the sack in minutes! Well, we conclude that drinking beer might be good for you if it’s done in moderation. In fact most of the negative effects of drinking beer are due to excessive drinking. So if you actually want to gulp down a crate of beer at one go, do so, but at your own risk. 

However, make sure you drink a gallon of water to keep yourself hydrated! 

Photograph via sxc.hu. Source:Yahoo Health