Science has come a long way in the last fifty years and one of those advances is better understanding what causes heart disease and taking a huge step towards preventing heart attacks from happening.
Doctors used to think that high cholesterol was the reason that people suffered from heart disease but recently, scientists have discovered that cholesterol levels don’t really have anything to do with heart health.
To understand why that is the case, it is important to understand just what cholesterol is. Cholesterol is a substances that the body produces and stores inside our tissues and blood plasma. This waxy substances can’t be dissolved in liquid and it is a lipid, coated with a protein to protect it while it travels through the bloodstream called lipoprotein.
What is most important to know is that there are two types of these protein coating: HDL or high-density proteins and LDL, lower-density proteins. The problem isn’t the cholesterol levels the problem is inflammation which results from oxidation of the blood. This inflammation is actually what causes plaque to build up and arteries to harden which leads to heart disease as well as strokes and other medical problems.
The problems are caused by free radicals that oxidize these LDL’s, creating bad cholesterol. But these free radicals are caused by our own habits and it is those we much change if we want to prevent oxidation of our LDL.
Smoking is one of the ways in which this can happen, as well as from stress, not enough sleep, air pollution, antibiotics, hormones put into animals raised for eating and coffee.
Free radicals cannot be avoided, but they should be minimized as much as possible and living in an urban area makes that very difficult. However, it is also true that you should try to minimize your LDL because the more LDL you have the more of it can be oxidized and the higher your chances of a heart attack.
Foods That Can Prevent Cholesterol Oxidation
The food choices that you make is the best way that you can prevent this oxidation and prevent serious problems down the road. You want to avoid taking in bad fats like dairy, vegetable oil and more.
Fried foods are a problem when it comes to oxidation as well because the trans-fat that they contain actually speeds up the process. Remember, your goal is to avoid anything that increases LDL a significant amount and anything that can cause the blood to become oxidized.
As for what you actually need to be eating in order to prevent this, it is pretty much the same diet that you would follow if you wanted to stay as healthy as possible, lose weight or prevent many other illnesses.
However, ten foods that specifically help prevent oxidation include: raisins, mushrooms, lentils, algae, peanuts, onions, eggplant, sesame seeds, blueberries and avocado. As for juices that can prevent it try a carrot, apple, celery and kale juice blend. Also, cucumber juice with lemon and grapefruit juice are good choices if they are all natural.
Sources:
http://www.healthassist.net/food/cholesterol-lowering-foods.shtml
http://newstartclub.com/resources/detail/lowering-high-cholesterol-levels-naturally
http://www.tampabay.com/things-to-do/food/cooking/nutritionist–natural-foods-chef-take-superfoods-for-a-spin/2237998
Featured image Via: juicing-for-health.com
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