15 Ways to Improve Cholesterol Ratio

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We often hear the Fountain of Youth and it sounds so mythical. But there is indeed a magic gene pool in Northern Italy. Researchers discovered that despite the high levels of bad LDL cholestero, 40 residents of the village Limone sul Garda in Northern Italy seem to appear to be healthy and free from heart diseases. And it turned out it wasn’t the famed Mediterranean diet at work, but rather villagers are born with self-cleaning arteries attributed to variation of a protein in good HDL cholesterol called ApoA-1 Milano.

This finding encouraged other researchers to create a synthetic version of ApoA-1 Milano and in 2003 they have successfully created the plaque-busting protein. Drawback then is the cost to mass produce it.

Fortunately, we don’t have to wait for this synthetic stuff to be affordable to the masses because researchers have found out surprising ways to raise the level of good HDL cholesterol and lower the level of bad LDL cholesterol. The good thing also, to follow these steps do not require much cost.

Eat more nuts. 25 different studies in Loma Linda university were conducted on walnuts, pecans, almonds, peanuts, pistachios, and macadamia nuts. They found that eating 67 grams of nuts per day increased the ratio of HDL to LDL in the blood by 8.3 percent. Another reseach in Australia revealed that replacing 15% of the daily calorie intake with macadamia nuts that is about 12-16 nuts a day, will bring up the HDL cholesterol by 8 percent. One good thing to note also is you can actually eat nuts covered with chocolates or rolled in cocoa powder because a separate study in Japan concluded that polyphenol in chocolate activates the genes that is reponsible for increasing HDL production.

Boost your endurance. Exercising for 20 minutes a day increases your HDL by 2.5 point and for every additional 10 minutes per day you keep huffing in the gym, you add an extra 1.4 points to your HDL. It does not matter what type of exercise routine as long as you keep your activity level at a point where you are already panting but not out of breath.

Build killer quads. Ohio University researchers discovered that lower-body work—squats, leg extensions, leg presses performed twice a week for 16 weeks raised HDL levels by 19 percent. Do three sets of six to eight repetitions of the half squat, leg extension, and leg press, resting no more than 2 minutes between sets. Use a weight that’s about 85 percent of the amount you can lift just once.

Take calcium-rich supplement. In a study published in the American Journal of Medicine, discussed the effect of a daily 1,000-mg calcium supplement whcich can raise HDL-cholesterol levels by 7 percent. Take calcium supplement that contains calcium citrate and 400 international units of vitamin D for maximum absorption.

Take fish meat instead. A comparative research revealed that the fish-eating folks experienced a 26 percent increase in HDL2, a particularly protective form of HDL.

Take “policosanol” (poly-CO-sanol). This mixture of alcohols derived from sugarcane wax is the rare natural supplement that may actually live up to its hype. Doses of 10 to 20 mg a day can increase HDL by up to 15 percent, according to David Maron, M.D., a cardiologist at Vanderbilt University medical center.

Drink cranberry juice. University of Scranton scientists found that volunteers who drank three 8-ounce glasses a day for a month increased their HDL-cholesterol levels by 10 percent, enough to cut heart-disease risk by almost 40 percent.

Eat grapefruit. Once a day can reduce arterial narrowing by 46 percent and can lower your LDL cholesterol by more than 10 percent.

Eat frequent and don’t wait til your stomach is empty. A study in the British Medical Journal found that people who eat six or more small meals a day have 5 percent lower LDL cholesterol levels than those who eat one or two large meals. This is like 20 percent down the risk of getting heart ailment.

Eat oatmeal cookies. In a University of Connecticut study, men with high LDL cholesterol (above 200 mg/dL) who ate oat-bran cookies daily for 8 weeks dropped their levels by more than 20 percent.

Use trans fat-free spread. Researchers in Norway found that, compared with butter, trans fat-free margarine lowered LDL cholesterol by 11 percent.

Your heart will benefit more from a few long-term health improvements than from a flurry of activity followed by a return to the dangerous norm. The above 12-steps are the tools to protect yourself. Work five of them into your daily routine over the next month. When they become second nature, try five more. By year’s end, you will have given your heart a beating chance.