Healthy Issue Talks

Obesity becomes a common problem many people have to deal with on the entire world. There are so many factors that actually could affect the risk of having the obesity on the body, such as bad living habits, gene, food, and many more. The one we are going to discuss more now is how people eat their food. Junk food is popular cause of obesity since many people consume such a thing. The way people life is significantly changing during 21^st century. People need to do something much faster and more efficient, but somehow, it brings bad effects, especially as we speak about food we eat. Junk food is kind of common for most people who live in modern cities. Burger King and McDonalds are two examples of places where people could get the junk food easily. Many people associate junk food with fast food. What do you know about such a thing?

Junk food is generally food which contains a high abundant of fats (most likely saturated fat) and high amounts of salt, or we can simply define it as food that does not have any nutritional value. The bad news is that we can find them almost anywhere and anytime. I might mention dogs, hamburgers, potato chip, soft drinks and so on as examples of junk food. In a very extreme definition, you might find out that it is deemed to be trash foods as junk food is high in fat and sugar components regardless of how it is labeled by manufacturers. The next thing you might need to know about junk food is its effects to the human body. The effect of junk food on health settles as bad as it could be especially when you eat too much of some.

The main reason why you should not take junk food is that these kinds of food do not contain any nutrients that are beneficial to the human body. Harmful carbohydrates, fats and cholesterol are common substances you could possibly get from those and believe me, somebody consuming junk food has reduced level of essential nutrients thereby causing weakness in the body. Next, many researchers find out that Junk foods have been identified as a major cause of heart diseases including myocardial infarction, cardiac arrest and atherosclerosis. How such a thing could happen? You have to know that junk food contains excessive amount of low-density lipoproteins and cholesterol. Those kinds of thing could be really dangerous as they are deposited on the inner linings of blood vessels since they lead to formation of plaques.

Overweight is a risk factor for heart disease and it’s important for us not to give up on such a condition like that because there are so many things we can do about it and One of them is doing the exercise. With regular exercise, heart rate could provide more efficient pump which also means that the heart does not have to work as hard as when you exercise less.

According to a recent study, the most ideal type of exercise to reduce the risk of heart attacks in people who are overweight is the combination of weight training with aerobics. People who only do aerobic types of exercise alone will experience a decrease in waist circumference and body weight, while people who only practice the burden of long-term health benefits is smaller.

Aerobic exercise plus resistance training is the most optimal program for those who are overweight. In general, people from the burden of the exercise group who completed the exercise program experienced an increase of about 0.6 pounds and small waist without any decrease in risk of diabetes or heart disease.

Those who do aerobic exercise decreased about 1.3 kg and 0.5-inch waist, while doing a combination of exercise reduced body weight 1.8 kg and waist circumference reduced by 1 inch. From this group was also seen a decrease diastolic blood pressure and metabolic syndrome score that describes the risk of diabetes and heart disease. However, in general, statistical analysis did not show a combination of aerobic exercise and weight training is better than just aerobic exercise alone so that aerobic exercise is also a good option.

Complacency on living could bring a good effect for heart health because the higher the sense of satisfaction you have, the lower risk of coronary heart disease you can get. Depression and anxiety are factors that can trigger heart attacks. In contrast, positive psychology such conditions of satisfied with living brings a good effect on heart health.

Thus the results of research published in the website of The European Heart Journal. Researchers from the Harvard School of Public Health, Boston, examined the satisfaction levels of 8000 government employees in Britain work related, family, sex, standard of living, activities, relaxation, and self-image. They were asked to assess the level of satisfaction on a scale of 1 (very dissatisfied) to scale 7 (extremely satisfied).

After six years, the researchers looked at heart health records of the respondents to determine whether there is a heart attack-related death, nonfatal heart attack, or chest pain (angina). A high level of life satisfaction was associated with decreased risk of heart disease by 13 percent. Satisfaction in work, family, sex, and self-image is considered important to protect the heart.

In this modern era, the issue of heart health seems to be the hottest topic in medical advancement and one popular problem we need to deal is cholesterol. Many health experts advise people to lose weight by exercise and eating foods high in fiber to reduce their cholesterol levels. Even for some people, they have started switching to consume a wide range of supplements to lower cholesterol. However, recent research suggests that certain content in plants called sterols and stanols can help you get rid of bad cholesterol in the body.

What do you know about them? Stanols and sterols are important chemical compounds contained in the cell membranes of certain plants. Sterols and stanols can be found in many fruits, vegetables, vegetable oils, nuts, grains, cereals and nuts. Sterols and stanols have similar molecules with cholesterol molecule. So, when they (sterols and stanols) come to your digestive mechanism through the body, they could be useful substances which could inhibit absorption of cholesterol in the small intestine. Therefore, artery-clogging which caused by cholesterol will be immediately removed.

Stanols and sterols are proven as perfect stuff to low the levels of bad cholesterol (LDL) 6 to 15 percent. The good news is that they will not affect the “good” cholesterol (high density cholesterol – HDL). With the use of sterols and stanols on a regular basis, it’s possible that you will be able to reduce blood cholesterol levels.

Where we can find the source of sterols and stanols are good? In general, you can find them naturally, for example in wheat, cabbage, legumes, sunflower, sesame seeds, almonds, beans, canola, corn, and olive oil. Meanwhile, food technology enables some foods can be fortified with plant sterols and stanols. Examples are: margarine, low-fat cheeses, crackers and chips.

A young age is do not mean you could take any kind of food you want to eat because you might need to consider about what kind of food you are consuming since you need to care about levels of bad cholesterol in the blood. In order to control your consuming pattern, you might need to check your cholesterol level regularly.

Cholesterol is a type of fat molecule in the bloodstream. In the normal levels, you should have less than 200 mg/dl and if you get that point, it’s kind of sign that have good cholesterol, which is really useful to form cell membranes, creating hormones as well as the sources of energy.

There are two types of cholesterol, which are low-density lipoprotein (LDL) or also known as bad cholesterol. Excess LDL cholesterol causes fatty buildup on artery walls. Meanwhile, another type of fat is high-density lipoprotein (HDL), which has the opposite function of LDL. HDL or good cholesterol serves to remove excess cholesterol from the blood vessel wall and prevent buildup.

Excess levels of LDL (greater than 130 mg / dl) will cause a buildup in blood vessels over time will constrict blood vessels. The result is a heart attack or stroke. Irregular death from heart attack is something you need to worry about since the numbers continue to rise. Coronary heart disease is the most feared killers because about 80 percent died suddenly.

There are several risk factors associated with cholesterol that cannot be changed, such as age, heredity, and gender. Men at higher risk for coronary heart disease, but the risk is similar in menopause women. Lifestyle is a risk factor for coronary heart disease. Consumption of foods high in fat, lack of exercise, and smoking, trigger a rise in cholesterol levels. Foods that are high in fat and cholesterol that we consume will increase the amount of cholesterol from the liver.

Food sources of cholesterol include eggs, shrimp, offal, chicken breast, sirloin steak, and much more. Cholesterol is only generated by the source of animal protein. Foods that contain no cholesterol even if mixed with oil will be saturated fat to be converted into cholesterol.