One of the downsides to living in a 300 channel universe that goes 24/7/365 is the staggering amount of information that broadcasters put forth to fill all that airtime. Absolutely anything is fair game for broadcasting. And, when you add in both the internet and what’s left of the print media, it all becomes almost too much.
This over abundance of information seems to be even more so when it comes to anything health related. For example: do you remember the last time you were told you should focus on lower cholesterol? Was it 15 minutes ago on TV, or yesterday in a newspaper ad, or 2 minutes ago on a website pop-up ad? I’ll bet you can’t remember. The noise about how to lower cholesterol, fish oil benefits, and who has the “best fish oil” has become so prevalent that, most of the time, we just tune it out as so much background noise.
While this is a natural reaction to the all the frenzied advertising, it is also a bit unfortunate because many, many of us really do need to lower cholesterol and have very little real idea how to go about that, or even how to find out if we need to in the first place.
First, it is important to know that there are no high cholesterol symptoms. Usually, the first indication of high cholesterol is the results of a blood test.
So, you are going to need a blood test to find your current cholesterol readings and a visit to your doctor so she/he can weigh the raw numbers against your personal history of weight, family, smoking habits (or not), diet, and amount of exercise you typically get.
If you suspect you do have high cholesterol, there are things you can do immediately to start to take control while you’re waiting to see your doctor. Chia seed is certainly among those things.
Add whole grain and fresh produce to your daily diet: For a whole bunch of reasons you need to add both whole grain and fresh fruit and vegetables to your diet every day. The chemical compounds will immediately being to work wonders on your cholesterol.
Start exercising : Even if its just a little bit to start with. The heart is a muscle and needs exercise just like any other. If you are really out of shape and don’t currently exercise at all take it easy until after your have seen the doctor and asked her what level of exercise is safe for you. But, until then, try to do just a little bit more than you do now. Try walking a single flight of stairs or parking farther out in the lot.
Add Omega-3 fatty acids to your diet: The more research done on omega-3 fatty acids the more benefits are discovered. Not only does it do wonders for lower cholesterol, it also benefits many other parts of the body as well.
The traditional source of omega-3 has been eating cold water fish such as mackerel or salmon three or more times a week, or by getting these fish oil benefits in pill form in a dietary supplement.
Chia Seed
While you could take a pure fish oil supplement I believe a much better choice is to add Chia seed instead. Not only does Chia seed have a great deal of omega-3, it also offers other dietary nutrients such as Iron, Potassium, Calcium, and Magnesium. Even more importantly, Chia seed is a raw food and, as such, is absorbed by the body at much higher rates than are the normal health supplements.
Chia seed is widely available both in health stores and on line. While some debate whether the black or white Chia seed is superior, the chemical composition of both seeds are identical to each other.
Try adding Chia seed to your diet for a period of thirty days and see if you don’t have more energy, and just generally feel better, than you did before.
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