Sunday, May 6, 2012

High Cholesterol is Not About the Heart

http://www.drdnaturopath.com/index.php/high-cholesterol-is-not-about-the-heart/

When you think of cholesterol your mind sees nothing but heart trouble. High cholesterol levels are feared as the number one cause for heart attacks. You may believe that high cholesterol is a sign of imminent danger of heart disease and stroke. Yet, neither this is true, nor will this article tell you how to fill a prescription for a powerful drug to lower cholesterol.
The causes of high cholesterol have been researched thoroughly and although we are still discovering new scientific findings we know which common lifestyle errors greatly contribute to the elevation of blood cholesterol levels. Smoking, chronic stress, lack of antioxidants, and poor eating habits are on the forefront. Regardless of the cause, high cholesterol tells a story about your body and lifestyle.
Cholesterol is an aging marker. It means that cholesterol levels can tell about your age. The relationship is simple: the older the person the higher the cholesterol and the poorer the cardiovascular profile. However, we are not only talking about your date of birth. We are taking about your body performance, your functional age, your overall health and fitness level.
Look around! Many of your friends are in their forties. Some are happy, healthy, and fit. Some are overweight, stressed, and already on prescription drugs. Have a chat with them and find out their cholesterol levels. Soon you will discover that it is not their biological age, but the lifestyle habits that define their blood parameters. Those who have high cholesterol levels are aging faster than their friends with normal-cholesterol levels. In other words those with normal cholesterol levels have also anti-aging lifestyle.
In North America 70% of men & 60% of women are overweight or obese. There is a strong relationship between obesity and high cholesterol. And although weight loss is much harder to achieve with advancing age, healthy weight loss has been one of the better methods for lowering cholesterol, regardless of biological age. On average people with normal weight enjoy a much higher level of health then their overweight counterparts. They are less prone to diabetes, heart disease, joint problems, and age-related degenerative diseases.
There are many cholesterol-lowering drugs and supplements on the market. They do what they promise: lower cholesterol. But they do nothing else. They neither reverse your functional age, prevent diabetes, repair joints, nor do they help you lose weight. What’s worse the minute you stop the pills your cholesterol issue comes back. Cholesterol-lowering pills help you achieve better cholesterol numbers, but they also help you avoid understanding the causes behind your cholesterol issue. Unless you change your lifestyle habits you will remain on a fast track towards accelerated aging.

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