Cholesterol and Heart Disease: How to Reduce Your Cholesterol Levels

Yaw Frimpong’s life has been adversely affected by heart disease. His father died recently as a result of a heart attack and he does not want to exit this world the way his father did.

“I will never forget the way he clutched his chest when the attack occurred, and the look of pain on his face. After his death, we learned that there is a connection between cholesterol and heart disease:  the doctors who attended to him informed us that the levels of cholesterol in his body was abnormally high and that was one of the factors that contributed to make him suffer that heart attack. At  45 years old, my father was too young to die and he has left my mother to take care of my nine siblings and me. It is going to be very tough. I will have to drop out of school to find a job so that I can support my mother. Perhaps, this may be the end of my dream to become a pilot. Anyway, I don’t want cholesterol to affect me the way it affected my father. And so I want to know what I can do to manage the levels of cholesterol in my body so that I can maintain good heart health? What should I eat? What should I do? How should I live so that I can achieve this aim?” the young man asks.

As Yaw and his family were informed, there is evidence that cholesterol and heart disease are related: high levels of bad cholesterol in the body can cause atherosclerosis (hardening of the arteries in the body) and that increase one’s risk of having a heart attack.

However, adopting these strategies and applying them to your life can help you to reduce your levels of cholesterol.

1.    Eat Fresh Berries Often

According to a study carried out in the University of California and published in the journal Agricultural and Food Chemistry, fresh berries can prevent low-density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol, or “bad” cholesterol, from building up in the body. Berries contain phenolic compounds which break down bad cholesterol in the blood.

So, eat two handfuls of blackberries or red berries after every meal, or blend a large amount of black berries or red berries and drink one glass of the juice every morning, afternoon, and evening: black and red berries inhibit the build- up of bad cholesterol better than other berries such as blueberries and strawberries.

2.    Eat Okra Often

Okra is very rich in pectin, which modifies how bile is made in the liver, and that helps to reduce high levels of cholesterol in the blood: pectin binds bad cholesterol in the bile acids and that facilitates the excretion of excess cholesterol from the body.

So, eat gumbo often. Instead of preparing the normal vegetable soup that you are used to, use gumbo to prepare okra soup and use the soup to eat fufu. This is a dish enjoyed by many in West Africa and you will enjoy it too if you try it.

3.    Eat A Lot Of Unsaturated Fats

A study has shown that eating unsaturated fats helps to reduce the levels of low-density lipoprotein (LDL), or “bad” cholesterol, in the body: unsaturated fats help with the oxidation, or the “burning” of LDL cholesterol, thereby helping to  reduce the total quantity of bad cholesterol in the body.

Additionally, the study found that unsaturated fats help to maintain the levels of high-density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol, or “good” cholesterol, in the body. In fact, some studies have revealed that a diet very rich in unsaturated fats can help increase the levels of HDL cholesterol in the body by 12%.

“So, where can I get this unsaturated fats from?” you may be asking. Or you may be wondering, “Which foods contain unsaturated fats?”

Foods such as soy bean oil, olive oil, sunflower oil, avocados, almond nuts, and cashew nuts are rich in unsaturated fats. And so instead of frying your fish with butter (which contains saturated fat that can raise the levels of bad cholesterol in your body), choose to fry your fish and meat with olive oil. And after eating a meal such as white rice with fried fish, eat a handful of cashew nuts.

Alternatively, instead of using oil to cook your stew, prepare it without oil, and then eat the subsequent meal with one whole avocado. For example, eat your white rice and egg- plant stew with an avocado and you will still get the amount of unsaturated fat you need to help you lower cholesterol levels in your body.

4.    Eat A Lot Of Soluble Fiber  

This kind of fiber can dissolve in water, but it cannot be digested by humans. Therefore, the fiber moves in bulk through the digestive tract and binds to cholesterol in the body, and pushes the bound cholesterol out of the body when it leaves the body during excretion.  

Good sources of this kind of fiber are: cowpeas (black-eyed peas), lentils, oatmeal, skin of fruits such as berries and guava, the edible parts of fruits such as oranges, tangerines, grapefruit, and mangos, cabbage, lettuce, spinach, kale,  corn, unpolished rice, sorghum, millet and wheat.  

5.    Eat Sesame Seeds Often

Sesame seeds contain certain plant chemicals known as phytosterols, which have a structure that is similar to the structure of cholesterol: 200 grams of sesame seeds contain about 400 grams of phytosterols.

These phytosterols displace cholesterol in the gut so that the amount of cholesterol that will be available for absorption into the body is significantly reduced, thereby helping to lower the amount of bad cholesterol that eventually ends up in the blood. 

6.    Exercise Often

Medical experts agree that exercising can help one reduce his or her level of cholesterol: when one exercises, certain enzymes are produced which help to move bad cholesterol from the blood into the liver, where the cholesterol is converted into other forms for excretion from the body.

So, do intense exercise for two hours every day. For example, jump a rope at an intense speed for 10 minutes, take a short break, and then continue with it until two hours are up.

7.    If You Have Pre-diabetes, Do Intermittent Fasting For Six Weeks Or More

Research carried out by scientists at the Intermountain Heart Institute in Utah has revealed that fasting for up to 12 hours can help to lower cholesterol levels in the body by about 12%.

When a pre-diabetic person fasts, the body begins to look for other sources of energy and so draws on reserves of LDL cholesterol in the fat cells and uses that cholesterol to take care of the energy needs of the body.

You may choose to fast from 6.00 am to 4.00 pm every Saturday, or from 6.00 am to 6.00 pm for three days of a week when you are on leave or on vacation.

During the fast, pray and ask God to give you good health and strength, for unless the LORD build the house, they labor in vain that build it (Psalm 127 v 1)—unless God blesses the efforts that you make, your efforts may be in vain. 

Conclusion

Cholesterol and heart disease are undeniably linked and you can reduce the amount of bad cholesterol in your body, thereby helping to reduce your risk of getting  a heart disease, by eating fresh berries, consuming okra often, eating a lot of unsaturated fats, consuming soluble fiber, eating sesame seeds, exercising regularly, and fasting if you have pre-diabetes.

You Might Also Like To Read:

Exercise And Your Heart

Saturated Fats And Your Heart

Sugar And Your Heart

Copyright © 2018 All rights reserved Heart Disease Issues

4 Simple Ways to Deal With Anger

Kofi Agyemang has problems with his temper: he gets angry easily. Recently, his doctor advised him to learn to manage his emotions when people annoy him. “I get angry often over things I do not need to be so upset over, such as when my wife nags, and I throw tantrums, shout, and hit my fist on tables when I am annoyed. I know it’s bad, but I find it difficult to deal with it. At other times too, I just get angry when someone has done nothing to hurt me. I went to see my doctor recently and I was shocked when he told me that getting angry often can increase my risk for a heart attack or a stroke. I have never thought of it that way: I have never imagined that getting angry often could land me in such serious trouble. I want to know some positive ways I can deal with my anger so that I will not get a heart attack. And what are some of the ways I can deal with the unexplained anger I suffer from sometimes,” he asks.

The advice of Kofi’s doctor was spot on: research done by the Harvard School of Public Health suggests that people who get angry often have an increased risk of experiencing a heart attack or stroke.

In this article, I want to show you how to deal with anger in healthy ways so that it will not adversely affect the health of your heart.

Now, this is what you can do.

 

1.    Resolve To Live Peaceably With Others

The Bible says in Romans 12 v 18 that, “If possible, so far as it depends upon you, live peaceably with all.” In other words, you can choose to act in a humble and peaceful manner when someone provokes you or irritates you.

So, remind yourself that maintaining peace depends on you and choose to follow a path of peace instead of choosing to adopt a confrontational attitude, and that can help you to calm down. You may say something such as, “I want us to maintain the peace and so I will forget about my ego and pride and resist the temptation to revenge,” to help you gain control over your emotions. 

Accept that there are things you did which contributed to the disagreement and avoid putting all the blame on the other person. When you do this and you judge yourself too instead of thinking the other person is an enemy, it will help you to feel humble and that will make it easier for you give the other person respect.

Keep company with men and women who show calmness at all times, and who you know have dealt with very provoking situations in a calm manner in the past. As you associate with them and interact with them, you will learn from them: they will exert a positive influence on your attitude and behavior and before long you will see that you will begin to respond calmly when people offend you.

      

2.    Remember People You Have Also Angered Before

Another way to deal with anger is to remind yourself of the fact that you have also done things to hurt people, and that those people controlled their negative emotion and chose to give you a second chance.

When you consider the fact that your husband, wife, brother, sister, classmate, co-worker, or neighbor also decided to restrain themselves in the past so that you could maintain your relationship, your conscience will tell you that you also need to do unto others what others have done unto you,  and that will help you to cool down.

So, when you see that you are getting angry, walk away from the person who is annoying you, settle in a quiet place, close your eyes, and recall 10 people you have annoyed in the past but who chose to control their anger. Keep mulling over the scenes where these people restrained themselves and replay it over and over again in your mind and it will make you feel that you also owe it to others to show them the kind of magnanimity that those who forgave you in the past showed to you, and that can make it easier for you to calm down.

To make it easier for you to get into the spirit to forgive, you may say words such as these to yourself, “I offended Kwabena last week and he glossed over my mistake. I offended Kwasi last month and he was gracious to me. I made Yaa angry and she was magnanimous towards me. I must also control myself and show kindness to Afua who has hurt me.”

Additionally, remind yourself of the fact that you will offend people in the future. It will make you reckon that since you will need the people you will anger in the future to forgive you, you must also forgive the person who has wronged you today so that others will be gracious to you tomorrow. So, you may say something such as this to help motivate you to resist the urge to prolong your anger, “How I treat Afua today can influence how those I will offend in the future will treat me. No, I must cool down! I must calm down so that I will also receive mercy when I offend people in the future.”

 

3.    Remind Yourself Of How Anger Can Cost People

Watch a video of someone who got angry and lost something valuable as a result of his anger, and the negative effect that anger had on his or her life. Alternatively, listen to stories of people who suffered great losses as a result of their anger and the price they had to pay because of that anger.

Then, write down 10 ways in which getting very angry affected your life negatively in the past and exactly how you suffered as a result of your inability to control or restrain your anger.

Doing this exercise will help to remind you that you can suffer  if you do not keep your anger in check and that can serve as a motivation to help you cool down so that you will not experience loos again: because you will not want to suffer another setback, you will find ways to diffuse your anger.  

 

4.    Listen To Gospel Music

Sometimes when I get very angry, I listen to gospel songs that talk about God’s mercy and grace towards me, and which speak about the fact that although I commit serious sins against God, God forgives me and gives me another chance to make amends. It helps to remind me of the fact that I also need to be gracious to those who offend me, and that helps me to restrain myself.

So, when you are angry, pick up your phone and listen to cool, soul-touching gospel songs whose lyrics stress the importance of forgiving others, or that have lyrics that stress the need to love others because we are on Earth for a very short time and so we do not need to carry grudges around because that will affect the quality of our lives.

This exercise will help you to renew your mind and it will make it easier to think about reconciliation: you will feel more comfortable to change your mindset from an adversarial one to a conciliatory one. Consequently, you will be more willing to forgive, you will find it easier to let go of the pain you feel, and that will help you to calm your spirit.

 

Conclusion

If you want to deal with anger so that it will not hurt your relationship with your loved ones, resolve to live peaceably with people who annoy you, remind yourself that others controlled their anger when you annoyed them and you must also control yourself for peace to prevail, recall how anger has made you lose something valuable before, and listen to gospel music and you will be able to manage your emotions better.

 

 

You Might Also Like To Read:

Anger And Your Heart 1

Anger And Your Heart 2

Stress And Your Heart  

How to Deal With Anxiety

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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8 Easy Ways to Deal With Anger

Can you imagine coming home one day to hear some really annoying news that makes you angry, or can you imagine that your neighbor hurts you so badly, and then in an effort to deal with the person who annoyed you you start talking, and then shouting, and then screaming until your eyes blaze and your whole body shakes, and then….you clutch your heart and you are rushed to the hospital. The diagnosis?  A heart attack!

If you are someone who gets angry often, this can actually happen to you: research carried out by the Harvard School of Public Health has revealed that people  who have angry outbursts often have an increased risk of having a heart attack.

So, how do you deal with anger at work so that you will not suffer a heart attack at your workplace? And how do you deal with anger and bitterness so that you can maintain a healthy heart?

In this article, I want to show you how to deal with anger so that it does not harm your heart.

Now, this is what you must do.

1.    Control Your Breathing

When you breathe in deeply and you breathe out slowly, changes will take place in your brain and your brain will send signals to your sympathetic nervous system that you are not under any form of attack. Consequently, you may not act impulsively or you will not say any rash words in an effort to defend yourself.

So, when you are angry, take your mind off what the other person said or the annoying thing he or she did, and focus your mind on your breathing. For a minute, mindfully follow the up and down movement of your chest. And then take in a very deep breath. You may count from one to ten as you breathe in. Hold your breath for five seconds, and then exhale very slowly. You may count up to 10 as you breathe out. Continue doing the exercise until you feel that you can speak without worsening the situation.

2.    Look At The Picture Of A Beautiful Scene

When you feel as though you are about to explode, take in a deep breath and walk away from the person or situation that is making you feel mad. Then, open a website page in which the sun is setting, birds are flying in the sky, a river is flowing through woods, fish are swimming in an aquarium, and other pictures such as these which have the potential to make you feel relaxed.

Focus on the picture, admire the colors, and imagine that you are physically present in that place and having fun. As you entertain yourself this way, positive thoughts will fill your mind and hat will help you to feel positive, and that will make it easier for you to think that the issue that has annoyed you is not a “do-or-die” affair. Consequently, you will be more willing to make concessions and compromise so that peace can be maintained.

3.    Exercise

A study has revealed that when a person exercises, it makes them find it easier to control themselves when they are angry.

Exercising causes the release of feel good hormones such as serotonin, which produces a calming effect on the body, thereby making it easier for one to feel relaxed and in control of himself or herself instead of feeling tensed when he or she is provoked.

So, make it a habit to exercise every day. For example, you may choose to squat, stand straight, squat, stand straight again, and continue with this routine for a count of 50. Or, you may choose to do 50 push-ups when you are annoyed.

4.    Remind Yourself Often That Others Can Disappoint You

One thing that often makes us angry is the fact that we expect too much from other people and when they do not meet our expectations, it makes us feel angry.

When you expect too much from someone and that person does not satisfy your need, you are likely to feel frustrated and that can increase the likelihood that you will get angry.

Therefore, remind yourself of the limitations of the people you deal with regularly and accept their flaws and weaknesses. When you remind yourself often that the other person may not act consistently but can act in ways that may irritate you, you are more likely to tolerate their weaknesses and the things they do to irritate you.

5.    Do The Things That Irritate You, Sometimes

This exercise will help you to build your capacity to stomach the irritating things that people around you will do, as well as help you to strengthen your willpower so that you can find it easier to discipline yourself when someone provokes you.

6.    Try To Sleep For At Least Seven Hours Everyday

Some studies have shown that when a person does not get enough sleep, he or she is likely to feel irritable. As a result, that person may react angrily to issues that one can ignore easily. Therefore, plan your life in such a manner that you can spend at least seven hours a day on your bed.

7.    Meditate

A study has revealed that meditating can help one to reduce his or her anger: it will help you to build your capacity to absorb irritating things without feeling that you must necessarily respond. In other words, it will help you to develop your ability to be non-confrontational, and to develop your ability to be non-aggressive when you are provoked.

So, meditate upon the benefits of choosing to live in peace with your neighbor, as well as the good characteristics of the person who annoyed you, and that can make you feel some good will towards that person, which will make it easier for you to calm down.

8.    Remind Yourself That Vengeance Belongs to God

The Bible says in Romans 12 v 19 that, “Beloved, never avenge yourselves, but leave it to the wrath of God; for it is written, ‘Vengeance is mine, I will repay, says the LORD’”.

In other words, God warns us that we should not repay people for what they do to us, but we should commit the person and the situation into His hands for Him to deal with that person.

Therefore, read this Bible verse often and recall it when you are angry.  When you remember that God has promised to deal with the person who annoyed you, you are more likely to feel relaxed and that can help you to calm down. 

Conclusion

If you want to deal with anger effectively, control your breathing when you see that your temper is rising. Additionally, look at a picture that can help you to relax, exercise regularly, do not expect too much from people, build your capacity to handle annoying situations, get enough sleep every evening, and remind yourself that you do not have the right to revenge and that can help you to manage this emotions properly.

You Might Also Like To Read:

Anxiety And Heart Disease

Anxiety And Your Heart

Dealing With Anxiety

How to Deal With Anxiety

Copyright © 2018 All rights reserved Heart Disease Issues