Crunchy nuts not just make for a tasty topping on your cakes and desserts but they help control your cholesterol levels. If you adore nuts, then you have another reason for eating them. They help manage your cholesterol and brace the fitness of your heart too.

There is an adequate option of nuts to pick between if you want to keep a check on your cholesterol levels. One of the nuts which is best suited for this reason is walnut. In reality it’s it has been assured by FDA that walnuts are one of the critical foods that lowers cholesterol. As well as reducing the cholesterol levels, it helps to decrease inflammation. This further diminishes the risks of many heart diseases.

Walnuts derive their capacity to manage the cholesterol and lower the body fat from their key nutrient - Omega 3 fatty acids. Omega 3 is very of in upkeep of low cholesterol levels. In addition, the walnuts also have good amounts of alpha linoeic acid and phytosterols. Both these scale back the triglyceride level present in the blood stream.

Another reason to increase the intake of walnut is to put a check on the development of plaque. It has been found that when plaque develops in the arteries, it may cause major heart difficulties like a coronary attack. On top of that, plaque is also responsible for a substantial rise in the HDL levels. Along side it also simultaneously reduces the LDL levels. This is the cause of further issues which are detrimental to health.

The good effects of walnuts are not just limited to control over your cholesterol levels. They ensure a 360 degree positive result on your well-being. Walnuts are a superb source of various nutrients including but not limited to Vitamin E, B complex and fiber. Each of these is a must for overall good health. Make sure that you eat a few walnuts regularly to keep your cholesterol level in control and to get its other health benefits.

Another nut which is equally beneficial in controlling the cholesterol levels is pistachio nuts. Like walnuts, pistachio nuts too consists of phytosterols. These are renowned for their property of reducing the cholesterol levels. They in turn improve the health on an overall basis. If you want to increase the percentage of good cholesterol more widely known as HDL in your body, increase the intake of pistachio nuts. It’s been proved by numerous studies that a regular consumption of these nuts can elevate the level of HDL by nearly 15%.

Just like walnuts, pistachio nuts have a high share of nutriments obligatory for a sound health. A few of these critical nutrient elements are vitamin B6, potassium, magnesium and thiamin. So pistachio nuts are indeed, the perfect snack for you. However, It’s critical to note that these nuts have a heavy percentage of calories. So exercise caution while eating them.

If you are considering eating nuts to manipulate your cholesterol levels then pecans are also a great choice. They work similar to walnuts and pistachio nuts to help reduce your cholesterol. Some studies and research state that eating pecans on a consistent basis can help bring down the cholesterol levels by 10 p.c.

Pecans are favourable for health because they contain unsaturated fat. This unsaturated fat is useful for the sound working of the heart. For this very reason FDA has approved of pecans as the heart healthy food. Incorporate pecans in your standard meal plan and watch it do miracles for you. You can always consume pecans as toppings or in form of pies.

Go nutty and you will surely be able to manipulate your cholesterol levels.

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You may be well aware of the health benefits of what are known as Omega 3 essential fatty acids. It’s been in the news lately and more and more people are understanding the importance of maintaining an adequate intake of the important essential fatty acids known as Omega 3, and most of us are deficient in these. But you may not have heard of Omega 6 fats and may not be aware of the importance of these to your health, and you may not have heard of the Omega 3 Omega 6 ratio.

Essential fatty acids are good fats that we need for good health every day but which we cannot manufacture in our body and so need to obtain from our diet each day. Omega 3 fats are found primarily in fish, and over 90 percent of the US population is deficient in Omega 3 essential fatty acids.

However Omega 6 fatty acids are generally found in a range of plant-based food sources that we are not deficient in in our diet. You find Omega 6 fats in sunflower oil, sesame oil, peanut oil, corn oil and more, and soy oil is almost totally comprised of Omega 6 fatty acids.

Most of these vegetable oils are cheap and for this reason they are used extensively in a wide range of processed foods, including margarine, and as many of us eat plenty of processed foods, as well as vegetable oils, we generally consume too much Omega 6.

In the past, according to research, we ate roughly as much Omega 3 as Omega 6 fats. This produced an Omega 3 Omega 6 ratio around 1 to 1. But because of our dietary reliance on food sources such as vegetable oils and processed foods there are estimates suggesting that our Omega 6 Omega 3 ratio has changed to around 10 to 1, and some estimates are that it is now as high as 30 to 1. Most of us are eating way too much Omega 6 fatty acids.

It is true that Omega 6 fats are important to our health however it is also true that the Omega3 Omega 6 ratio, or the ratio between how much of each of the 2 types of fats that we eat, is also very important, and that by eating too much Omega 6, whilst at the same time eating too little Omega 3, we are running the risk of a range of health problems including the possibility of a range of cancers as well as coronary artery disease and inflammatory diseases like arthritis.

Combine this with the fact that in the past most of our meat came from animals which were grass fed, and which therefore had a reasonable level of Omega3 fats, but most of our animals are now grain fed which reduces the levels of omega3 fats and increases the level of Omega 6 and you can see that there is no need at all for supplementation with 6.

Whilst it is extremely important to get an adequate intake of Omega 3 fatty acids in our diet, and most of us are deficient in these, it is equally important to ensure that we reduce our intake of Omega 6 fats to maintain a healthy Omega 3 Omega 6 ratio. We can do this by reducing the amount of processed foods and vegetable oils in our diet and changing to healthier oils for cooking such as olive oil. And equally important is to increase our intake of Omega3 fats by dietary supplementation with fish oil supplements.

However, although all of us should be taking daily fish oil supplements, you need to be aware that there are wide variations in the amount of the Omega 3 fatty acids found in the different brands of fish oil supplements, and you need to know how to make an informed choice when choosing your fish oil supplements.

Visit my website to find out more about the Omega3 Omega 6 ratio and also about how to compare the different fish oil supplements available.

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With so many consumers becoming increasingly interested in participating in their own health, many start with their heart health.

Patients often depended on their physicians, in the past, to manage their health for them without any input.In the last 10 years, people are making a shift to become more active in understanding their own health.

Your overall health is important and one vital component to that is your heart health. However, with the use of some simple blood tests, you can monitor and hopefully decrease your cardiac risks.

Cholesterol Test - This test, often called a lipid panel, is a group of tests to measure the amount of various blood fats that you have.  Included in this test are measurements of your total cholesterol, triglycerides, HDL (good cholesterol) and LDL (bad cholesterol).  This test is commonly performed as abnormal cholesterol levels can place you at risk for heart disease.

VAP Test - A more specific test is called the VAP test.This test provides improved assessment of your cholesterol.  New research has shown that the smaller particles of cholesterol determine your risk level to a much greater degree.Heart risk can be assessed by the VAP test since it evaluates smaller particles of cholesterol.

C Reactive Protein - Also called the CRP test, this blood test evaluates the amount of inflammation within your body.Elevated levels of the inflammation process within vessels can lead to increased cardiovascular risk.

Hemoglobin a1c - The a1c test is a simple blood test that measures your blood glucose over a 2-3 month time frame.  Unlike the fasting glucose test, this provides you with a larger picture of your blood sugar levels over time.  This becomes important as those with higher blood sugar levels can develop prediabetes or diabetes.

This lab work can monitor your cardiac health.It is important to consult with your doctor if you discover abnormal test results.  However, with good knowledge and proper follow up, you’ll keep your heart in check.

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There are clear benefits of increasing your intake of omega 3 essential fatty acids, the 2 most important being DHA (docosahexaenoic acid) and EPA (eicosapentaenoic acid). In particular there are well established heart benefits to taking more Omega 3 in your diet, however for anyone with high triglycerides it is also now clear that increasing your intake of essential fats can help in lowering triglycerides.

Research has established that almost all of us have levels of Omega3 fats that are too low. Omega 3 fats are found in fish oil and the research also shows that by increasing our intake of fish oil in our diet by way of supplementation we also attract a range of heart and other health benefits.

Some of the important heart health benefits from increasing omega 3 in the diet include reducing blood pressure, reducing the growth of plaque in the arteries, reducing the risk of fatal heart attack and now also helping to lower triglyceride levels.

Triglycerides are a form of fat that can be manufactured in the body from the food you eat and exist in the blood. Having high triglycerides increases the risk of blood clots and can also lead to a lowering of your HDL (good) cholesterol. Basically high triglycerides are linked to coronary artery disease. And high triglycerides can also be a risk factor in some other diseases, for example diabetes.

A diet with high levels of saturated fat intake can increase triglyceride levels as can a diet of high sugar foods. Risk factors also include being overweight and drinking too much alcohol.

So lowering triglycerides is very important for many people who want to know how to lower triglycerides.

There’s a range of things that you can do to help lower triglycerides. If you eat less sugar and saturated fat in your diet, lose weight and reduce your alcohol intake these will all help lower triglycerides.

However research is now showing that increasing your intake of omega 3 essential fatty acids found in fish oil is also important in a strategy to lower triglycerides.

The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition publishes many of the studies about the benefits of omega 3 and a statement on the website says that “A dose-response relationship exists between omega-3 fatty acid intake and triglyceride lowering” and also that “omega-3 fatty acids from fish oil decreased serum triglyceride concentrations by 25% to 30%,”.

So it is now clear that improving your level of intake of omega 3 essential fatty acids can help lower triglycerides and because this is now clearly established the American Heart Association tells people with high triglycerides to maintain a level of intake of 2 to 4 grams per day of DHA and EPA by way of fish oil supplements under the care of a physician.

Many people have a problem with lowering triglycerides and this is good news for them and gives them a way to lower triglycerides naturally.

And as well as helping to lower triglycerides increasing Omega3 intake offers you a wide range of other health and heart benefits.

Of course you can eat more fish but fish is generally contaminated with mercury and can be extremely expensive. The best fish oil supplements are not contaminated and are much more cost-effective to be taken daily, though not all fish oil supplements are as good as others.

If you’re interested to find out how to compare fish oil supplements to find the best available (which I take myself) visit my website.

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