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People keep talking about how awful cholesterol is. For years, we've been told to lower it, lower it, lower it...

But did you know that cholesterol is something we NEED in order for our bodies to work properly? It's part of every cell membrane. It's part of our brain functioning (too low cholesterol leads to dementia).

Why then, you ask- is the arteriosclerotic plaque full of cholesterol? It's because the vessel had INFLAMMATION & DAMAGE occuring there- and the cholesterol went there to "patch the wound" and thus it collects there. It's like finding a bunch of firefighters at the scene of a huge fire. They did not CAUSE the fire; but yet there they are, trying to save the building from the fire.

So someone who has high cholesterol has a heart attack? It's not because they have too many firefighters (high cholesterol) that they have the heart attack. It's because they ALREADY HAD TOO MANY FIRES (inflammation & vessel damage) going on in their body and their liver produced more cholesterol to protect the body!! To reduce the NEED for such high cholesterol (as we shouldn't need that much)- we have to REDUCE THE INFLAMMATION AND CELL DAMAGE.

So again- you reduce inflammation and cell damage by eating less processed foods, less sugar... more real foods in their natural forms.

Have I said it enough??? lol

Continuing on with the concept of cholesterol being firefighters in your body. LDL (the "bad" cholesterol) is cholesterol in vehicles (the lab measurement of "LDL" is the vehicle, or type of cholesterol carrier) traveling away from the liver and going to the places where they are needed. Think of it as firefighters being called out to a fire. Yes, if you have high LDL- that means a bad thing- because it means you have a BUNCH of firefighters dispatched out.

The HDL measurement is the cholesterol in a returning vehicle. They are done with battling, coming home. Job is done. Thus- these are the "good" cholesterol, because they signal that your body is no longer in immediate danger (from the "fires"- or inflammation/damage I mentioned previously).

If your HDL is higher than it used to be- then that's a good thing. Most of your cholesterol are no longer needed to heal. If your LDL is high, that's a bad thing- because it means your body is INFLAMED and needs healing.

And again- taking cholesterol-lowering meds like Statins, while NOT controlling the inflammation in your body, is like firing your crew of firefighters without adequate fire prevention in place.


Triglycerides are precursors to cholesterol. "Young cholesterol" as it were... so if your triglycerides are high, then think of it as your body in panic mode- trying to train up a bunch of new fire recruits to rescue your body. THEY are not a bad thing of themselves (especially if your body is inflamed/damaged)- but the fact that the levels are high- signals DANGER already occuring in your body.

So again- meds to lower triglycerides isn't helping to save your body. They are only taking away your recruits.

PREVENTION IS THE KEY.

I love it when I have a meal that leaves me feeling NOURISHED rather than just stuffed full.

There is just SOMETHING that comes with knowing you ate well, that gives you a peace of mind. It's like a healthy meal can be partly meditation and you're left feeling less stress, too.

How can you get that feeling from fast food? Every time I eat fast food, I'm left feeling greasy and heavy and guilty. It's just not the same.

I made some homemade veggie soup yesterday. Today I was going to have some leftovers, but didn't want the same thing again- so I added 2 leaves of torn kale into it as I reheated the soup. Delicious! Plus it livened up the color of the dish, so it seemed "new" and not "leftovers". Awesome!

And then it got me to thinking... there are thousands of people out there who take warfarin (Coumadin) as an anticoagulant. They cannot eat any dark green leafy vegetables because it interacts with the warfarin. Doesn't that seem so very backwards??? All the awesome nutrition that you get from all the various dark green leafy foods- and yet these people are told they CAN'T have it!! How is that considered "progress" for helping your body? I really wish the medical community would push harder for prevention and treating the TRUE CAUSE of some of these disorders- rather than just prescribing a cover-up med that actually causes LESS HEALTH in the long run.

Respect your body, Respect your food. It really makes a HUGE difference. Take the time to cook it yourself. Food of Love... because you love your body and you love your life.

Wow... it's November already! It made me think back on my year- and what goals I had for 2011. And what has actually happened as the year rolled on.

We all got into Beachbody for a reason. We want to lose weight, we want to get fit, we want to achieve something. Remind yourself of just WHY you started. Keep that handy for when you start to lose faith... and remind yourself that you can't get there if you quit.

Think about it being like a road trip across the nation. You have to have a plan & a direction. Know which highways you will take, and what you might want to do along the way. You can't just get in the car and expect it all to happen by itself.

Along the way- you'll have to eat. Refuel the car. Make those enjoyable but still efficient. You'll also need to rest. Hotel stays, rest stops... all necessary. Sleep is good!

You might hit speed bumps and road blocks. Construction delays, detours you didn't expect. But do you give up and just stay where you are or turn back? No- you keep going... find a slightly different route- but you still stay in the general direction of your goals. Eventually you'll find yourself back on the path you had planned. And then you just keep going.

Enjoy the journey! You'll find yourself seeing things you've never seen before. Experiencing things you would never have experienced had you just stayed where you started. You'll learn more about yourself, you'll meet new people, do new & interesting things. Make it a trip of lifetime- as you get your life back!

I know you all will do super!! Just keep on going. One 'mile' at a time, one day at a time... you'll be surprised at where you will end up. :-)