Good Cholesterol

There is good cholesterol and then there is bad cholesterol. LDL is the bad and HDL is the good. You want to keep your HDL high! By keeping it high you help lower the bad LDL. Low HDL also greatly increases the risk of heart disease, stroke and Type 2 diabetes.

According to the University of California, Berkeley Wellness Letter, it is estimated that for every 1mg/dl increase in HDL, there is a drop in the risk of cardiovascular disease by 2 to 3 per cent. HDL over 60 mg/dl is considered protective, even though it adds to your total cholesterol. So always get your cholesterol readings broken down and not just as a total number.

An Easy and Cheap Exercise Program

An easy and cheap exercise program is walking. By walking an average of 10,000 steps per day you will meet the government standards for exercise. This will help you to be healthier in all ways (weight loss, lower blood pressure, etc.) But how do you measure these 10,000 steps? The easiest way is to wear a pedometer. However all pedometers are not the same. The cheaper the pedometer, the less accurate it probably is and may be off by as much as 50%. In tests only 26% of cheap pedometers got an acceptable rating. According to the September 2006 issue of TUFT's HEALTH and NUTRITION LETTER, the Yamax Digiwalker SW-200 is the "gold standard." It cost about $20.00. So for $20.00 and a little time you can be on the road to a Healthier You!