HealthTip: Triglycerides

Often times when we get our cholesterol tested, we focus on the results of LDL ('bad'), HDL ('good'), and total cholesterol, and skip over our triglycerides levels. Triglycerides are a type of fat found widely throughout the body. When we eat, our bodies convert extra unused calories into triglycerides. Triglycerides are stored in fat cells and can be used for energy between meals. However, if you regularly eat more calories than you burn, for example from high calorie carbohydrates and fat (e.g. soda and fast food), you may have high triglycerides (hypertriglyceridemia).
According to the American Heart Association, high triglycerides are linked to an increased risk of heart disease and other health complications.
If your triglycerides levels are high, simple ways to help control levels would include:

• Limiting foods and beverages with added sugar (e.g. soda, pastries, highly processed foods) because many extra calories can come from these food options
• Choosing fruits for a sweet snack (e.g. blueberries, strawberries, bananas, apples, oranges..etc)
• Getting at least 2.5 hours of moderate exercise each week (this works out to approximately 30 minutes a day; even brisk walking can help lower triglyceride levels)
• If your physician or dietitian have confirmed that you're overweight, losing a few pounds (5-10% of your weight) has shown to drastically help lower triglycerides. Decreases of 20% in levels have been seen!

So if you've had your cholesterol tested, don't forget to ask about triglycerides too! If you have high triglycerides, talk to your physician or dietitian about the simple steps you can take to get back in control!

Information Sources:
http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/triglycerides/CL00015
http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/videos/news/triglyceride_threat_042711.html

HealthTip: The Protein You Need

We all need 1-3 servings of protein each day depending on our age, weight, physical activity levels, and overall health status. See Canada's Food Guide for details about servings (http://www.hc-sc.gc.ca/fn-an/food-guide-aliment/basics-base/quantit-eng.php).
Meats and alternatives provide our bodies with protein, fat, iron, zinc, and B vitamins. These nutrients are required for cell maintenance and repair, energy, help prevent anemia and infection, and promote proper growth. Lean options can help limit intake of cholesterol and saturated fats, which may play a role in heart disease. Healthier proteins include:

• Poultry without the skin
• Lean meats including inside round roast, outside round roast, eye of round steak or roast, strip loin steak, sirloin steak, rump roast, and lean and extra lean ground meat or ground poultry
• Fish high in omega-3 fatty acids e.g. char, herring, mackerel, salmon, sardines and trout
• Eggs
• Legumes such as bean, peas, and lentils
• Tofu
• Low-fat cheese, yogurt, and dairy
• Roasted nuts and seeds

Other ways to get some healthy protein into your meals includes adding meat alternatives such as beans, tofu, and lentils into soups, stews, salads, and as a side-dish; trying to have 2 servings of fish each week, this can be at lunch or dinner; and trying low fat and low salt options for deli meats, or simply preparing lean meat at home and slicing them (e.g. bake a few chicken breasts, slice, and refrigerate for use in sandwiches, salads, soups..etc).
Hopefully these tips will help you find creative ways to add some variety to your protein choices and promote heart health by limiting your sodium, saturated fat, and cholesterol intake!

Information Sources:
http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/news/fullstory_110988.html
http://www.hc-sc.gc.ca/fn-an/food-guide-aliment/basics-base/quantit-eng.php
http://www.hc-sc.gc.ca/fn-an/food-guide-aliment/choose-choix/meat-viande/tips-trucs-eng.php
http://www.dietitians.ca/Nutrition-Resources-A-Z/Fact-Sheet-Pages%28HTML%29/Grains/Meat-and-Alternatives.aspx

HealthTip: Dealing With Lactose Intolerance

If you find that after consuming dairy, you experience the symptoms mentioned in the previous post, you may be lactose intolerant. Decreasing the amount of dairy, or removing it from the diet (for those with high intolerance) commonly relieves symptoms. For dealing with your intolerance, see the helpful tips listed below:

• Those with low intolerance may be able to consume up to ~1/2 a cup of dairy at a time without having symptoms. Larger servings may cause discomfort. Paying attention to how much dairy you can consume without having symptoms will help you prevent future discomfort.
• Milk products that may be easier to digest include: buttermilk, cheese, yogurt, lactose-free milk and milk products, lactase-treated cow's milk, soy milk, and rice milk. 
• Lactase enzymes can be added to regular milk or taken in pill form.
• To help you get more calcium, try fortified orange juice along with foods such as leafy greens, oysters, sardines, canned salmon, shrimp, and broccoli (which are high in calcium).
• Many people choose to supplement with calcium and vitamin D. Talk to your physician, dietitian, or pharmacist about the right dose for you!

Without enough vitamin D, calcium is taken out of the bones to help maintain calcium levels in the blood. This can cause rickets in children and osteomalacia (softening of the bones) or osteoporosis (fragile bones) in adults. Calcium is critical in the support of bones and teeth, and also is important for muscle function, nerve transmission, and hormonal secretion. Health Canada recommends that adults between the ages of 19-50 years need 1000mg of calcium/ day and 600IU of vitamin D/day (for other age group requirements see http://www.hc-sc.gc.ca/fn-an/nutrition/vitamin/vita-d-eng.php). Read food labels, include calcium and vitamin D fortified beverages/ foods, and/or explore the option of supplements to make sure you're getting enough!

Information Sources:
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmedhealth/PMH0001321/
http://www.hc-sc.gc.ca/fn-an/nutrition/vitamin/vita-d-eng.php

HealthTip: What Is Lactose Intolerance?

Lactose intolerance is the inability to digest the sugar lactose. Lactose can be commonly found in milk and milk products, and intolerance to it occurs when one is deficient in the enzyme lactase (normally breaks down and helps digest and absorb lactose). Symptoms usually occur ~30 minutes to 2 hours after consuming milk and/ or other dairy products, and may include:

• Intestinal bloating
• Pain
• Gas
• Diarrhea
• Intestinal discomfort
• Nausea

Those who are mildly sensitive can generally consume milk products in small amounts, especially fermented ones such as yogurt and cheese. For those who are more sensitive to lactose, products that contain the enzyme needed to breakdown lactose are available (e.g. lactaid) as an alternative option to milk. Dairy products are good sources of calcium and vitamin D, which help prevent the development of weak bones and osteoporosis later in life.
So if you're lactose intolerant and have been cutting out dairy from your diet, speak to your physician, dietitian, or pharmacist about alternative options and calcium and vitamin D supplements to insure that you're not missing key nutrients needed for bone health and maintenance!

Information Sources:
Provincial Health Officer's Annual Report 2005. Food, Health, and Well-Being in British Columbia
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmedhealth/PMH0001321/

HealthTip: Starting to Think Positively

So if you're a little like me, and you've read the previous post and are thinking that you're a pessimist and you're doomed, please don't raise your stress levels! If you're motivated, you can learn to change your negative thoughts into positive thinking. However, this type of change doesn't happen overnight, it takes time and practice because it involves developing a new habit. Some ways to think and behave more positively would include:

• Check In: a few times during the day, consciously evaluate if what you're thinking is positive or negative. If your thoughts are negative, try to change a negative into a positive!
• Let the Humor In: allow yourself to smile, laugh, especially during stressful times. Find a reason to smile and laugh everyday!
• Healthy Lifestyle: exercising regularly can release hormones that positively affect mood and decrease stress. Along with exercise, a healthy, balanced diet can fuel your mind and body. Learning new ways to manage stress (e.g. 25 minute power nap or 5-10 minutes of deep breathing) could help you relax and feel positive.
• Surround Yourself with Positive People: try to make sure that the people around you are positive, supportive, and dependable. Negative people may increase your stress levels and make it more difficult for you to manage your stress in healthy ways.
• Practice Positive Self-Talk: Be kind and encouraging to yourself. One simple rule to follow could be to not say anything to yourself that you wouldn't say to someone you care about. If you find negative thoughts entering your mind, evaluate them, and try to shift your focus to thoughts about your strengths.

If you focus on developing these skills everyday, positive thinking may start to come naturally to you. Optimism gives yourself and those around you an emotional boost, and will give you the tools to deal with everyday stresses more constructively.
So why not try this positive thinking idea out as your own experiment? The only side-effect could be that you simply smile, laugh, or enjoy your days a bit more than usual!

Information Source:
http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/positive-thinking/SR00009

HealthTip: Why Care About Positive Thinking?

Do you find yourself always focusing on the positives or the negatives? Are you a pessimist or an optimist? The way you think may reflect your outlook on life and your attitude towards yourself and others. The topic of positive thinking has been a hot topic of research. Some studies suggest that optimism and pessimism can affect one's health in many ways. Positive thinking has been suggested to be a key part of successful stress management. Other health benefits of positive thinking may include:

• Increased lifespan
• Lower depression rates
• Lower stress level
• Better psychological and physical health
• Immune system function support
• Higher levels of well-being during hardships (e.g. during serious illness)
• Better perceived capability; higher self-esteem
• More frequent, higher quality social interaction

Why positive thinking has these affects on health is unclear. One theory is that those with positive outlooks cope better in stressful situations, reducing the harmful effects of stress on the body. Another idea is that optimistic people may have healthier lifestyles, possibly get more physical activity, follow a healthier diet, and have lower rates of alcohol consumption and smoking. Some psychologists think that positive thinking may involve positive expectations for one's future. These positive expectations cause people to behave in certain ways that promote them to strive even when progress is slow or difficult. One study suggested that optimists are more likely to take direct action to solve their problems, more likely to accept the reality of stressful situations, and make the best of difficult experiences.

Information Sources:
http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/positive-thinking/SR00009
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed?term=The%20Value%20of%20Positive%20Psychology%20for%20Health%20Psychology%3A%20Progress%20and%20Pitfalls%20in%20Examining%20the%20Relation%20of%20Positive%20Phenomena%20to%20Health

HealthTip: Could Exercise Preserve Your Heart's Elasticity?

A new study from the American College of Cardiology in New Orleans suggests that consistent life-long exercise preserves heart muscle in the elderly. The study involved 121 people with no history of heart disease; 59 participants were sedentary (minimally active), while 62 participants were life-long exercisers over the age of 65 years. Exercise was assessed by the number of aerobic session each week and not by the level of intensity or duration.
It is suggested that physical activity can help preserve the heart's youthful elasticity. When people are sedentary, their heart mass shrinks with each passing decade. It was found that elderly people with a history of exercising 6-7 times a week throughout adulthood not only kept their heart mass, but built upon it. They showed to have heart masses greater than sedentary healthy adults aged 25 to 34.
The researchers suggest that "if we can identify at risk people in middle age, and get them to exercise 4-5 times a week, this may go a very long way in preventing major heart conditions of old age, including heart failure."
Imagine what you could do for your heart if you started your regular exercise at an even younger age?

Information Source:
http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/news/fullstory_110575.html