Make Better Diet Choices

Diet and exercise don’t just operate independently-they can actually work together to lower your cholesterol.

A positive interaction between diet and excercise in lowering “bad” LDL cholesterol emerged in a past years, report in the New England.

The researchers, from Stanford University School of Medicine, found that during a one- year period, men and women who followed the more restrictive, low- fat NCEP step II diet and also engaged in areobic excercise were able to lower their LDL levels by 15 to 20 points on average. In contrast, those who didn’t excercise failed to lower their LDL levels to this extent. The researchers concluded that”s quite important to include aerobic excercise with a diet for maximum reduction of “bad” LDL cholesterol.

But the benefits of the diet- excercise combinations don’t stop here. Many studies have shown that these two strategies, operating both alone and together, can produce still another benefit for your blood lipids: a reduction in obesity and percentage of body fat.

With the buzz of today’s living many of us find it difficult to keep pace with our body’s essential requirement of exercise and so we become ungainly and obese. Obesity is detected using the Body Mass Index (BMI) of individuals. It’s calculated using the height and weight of individuals. A BMI of 30 and above is an indication of obesity. Easy commercial and non-commercial solutions are now available to help substitute this unhealthy state of affairs with good health and great looks.

Diet food programs are available at every step of your search to make healthy living easy. When choosing programs it is best to remember that there is no one single fixit program that suits everybody. Different body types require different food programs. Also do keep in mind that the program of your choice gives you the right balance of all the food groups that your body needs and also meets your daily requirement of vitamins. So before you select one discuss it with your physician or better still a nutritionist All research has concluded that fiber based foods and water seem like the panacea or even a secret weapon to fight all weight related problems.

Ideally, consuming at least 8 glasses of water a day is considered to be good. Intake of foods that contain lots of fiber like most veggies and fruits are also a sure fire way of losing calories. Carbohydrates and fats fall under the hazy food group category. If carbohydrates are taken in through whole grain diets then it is generally accepted to be good. Any other form is anathema. Fats are also divided into the good and the bad variety. Research helps by saying that the intake of good cholesterol can negate the ill effects of bad cholesterol. The villain of the piece is however, sugar. All kinds of sugar should be rigorously avoided. Natural and commercial substitutes are easily available in markets and should be used. When asked to summarize most weight watchers and doctors would agree with the mantra “white is bad”. This refers to the compulsory avoiding of all white colored food by people who desire to diet and gain good body shapes. This is as far as the nutrition factor goes.

All successful diet programs are usually a success because individuals kept at it and decided to make changes in the way they ate. Regular exercise and healthy eating habits is a combination made in heaven. Lose weight gradually and not in a hurry. Like they say haste makes waste. A successful program should not make you lose more than a pound in a week. Rapid weight loss will result in ill health and will only end with you regaining the weight that you so painstakingly lost. Research the program of your choice well. Talk to people who have used it and more importantly with your dietician. Pick one that sets reasonable goals and does not promise impossible targets too soon. Anybody can achieve the weight that they desire. Just be determined about it and eat healthy.