Heart disease is
number one killer in Western world today. More than 40% of men will die from it. What is particularly disturbing is that strokes and heart attacks are becoming much more common in younger men. Witness recent death of St. Louis Cardinals pitcher Darryl Kile, who was felled in his prime, only 33 years old. Although it seems counterintuitive, athletes, in fact, can be even more vulnerable than average person.
When men engage in vigorous exercise, they create an excess of free radicals. These free radicals cause tremendous amounts of damage to body with devastating effects, one of which is elevating their cholesterol.
But taking a powerful antioxidant such as Total Balance, available at http://www.InstantEnergyBoost.com, will help neutralize these free radicals before damage occurs. Nowadays, due to lifestyles, diet, and deeper understanding in role that genetics plays, younger men should be acutely aware of importance of keeping their cholesterol at optimum levels.
As an indication of this importance, one of major pharmaceutical companies is even in process of seeking FDA approval to provide a statin drug to children to lower their cholesterol. Elevated cholesterol is considered best "marker" for potential heart disease and it is a condition that 1 in 4 people have.
In order to prevent future problems, it is widely recommended that you check your cholesterol levels and if they're "out of line," take action to normalize them -- regardless of your age.
Are you at risk?
A common misconception is that people with high cholesterol must be overweight or subsist on a diet of greasy burgers and fries. The truth is that amount of cholesterol you have in your bloodstream is not directly related to your diet. I will explain why momentarily.
Another prevailing and incorrect view is that only older people need worry about their cholesterol levels. The reality is that having a predisposition to high cholesterol and heart disease are genetically influenced factors.
Elevated cholesterol levels can stalk even young men and women who are in seemingly good shape and otherwise take care of themselves. Indeed, National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute advocates that young, middle-aged, and old lower their cholesterol, whether it be to prevent heart disease, or because they already have it.
Therefore it's important to know your family history and, accordingly, take prevention to ensure health of your heart for many years to come. But first, what exactly is this "silent killer" known as cholesterol?
What is cholesterol?
It is important to understand that cholesterol itself is essential to good health. Cholesterol is a non-soluble waxy substance that your body needs for making hormones, cell walls and nerve sheaths. However, there are two forms of cholesterol. One form is called LDL -- or "bad" cholesterol -- and other is HDL -- or "good" cholesterol.
LDL transports cholesterol to your cells, whereas HDL travels around in your bloodstream picking up excess cholesterol and taking it back to your liver for reprocessing, functioning as a "garbage collector" of sorts. Too much LDL creates risk of clogging up your arteries, which can lead to heart failure or stroke; not enough HDL will result in same problem due to inadequate "housekeeping."
Therefore, most important figure to examine is not your total cholesterol per se, but ratio between LDL and HDL readings, and levels of each type. You want LDL as low as possible and HDL as high as possible.
The National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute recommends that everyone over 20 have their cholesterol checked every 5 years. For optimal health, total cholesterol should be less than 200, whereas LDL cholesterol remains at less than 100, and HDL greater than 60.
How's your diet?
