Part 1 of 2

What if all we’ve been told about cholesterol was wrong or not entirely accurate? Weight loss coach and nutritional healing expert Dr. Jonny Bowden says the following, “Cholesterol is a relatively minor risk factor for heart disease compared with much more serious things like inflammation. And the emphasis on cholesterol to the exclusion of other more important risk factors has also led us to take our eye off the ball when it comes to a risk factor we can easily do something about without taking a single medication: triglycerides.”

Instead of focusing on our total cholesterol numbers, look at your triglycerides compared to HDL. According to the Journal of the American Heart Association, this ratio is a strong predictor for heart disease. In his book Good Calories Bad Calories, Gary Taubes references studies from the ‘70s showing that total cholesterol is meaningless; LDL is a very weak indicator and HDL levels are a better predictor for heart disease.

Why are triglycerides a big deal? Triglycerides trigger the liver to produce more cholesterol, particularly the small dense particles known as LDLb which are particularly harmful. So, we’ve been told all these years that LDL is bad or “lousy”, yet there are multiple types of LDL, one being harmful and the other harmless.

A Harvard-lead study author reported:

“High triglycerides alone increased the risk of heart attack nearly three-fold.

And people with the highest ratio of triglycerides to HDL – the “good” cholesterol – had 16 times the risk of heart attack as those with the lowest ratio of triglycerides to HDL, in the study of 340 heart attack patients and 340 of their healthy, same-age counterparts.

The ratio of triglycerides to HDL was the strongest predictor of a heart attack, even more accurate than the LDL/HDL ratio (Circulation 1997;96:2520-2525).”

According to Dr. Mercola, optimal ratio levels should be below 2.0. For example; if your triglycerides are 150 and your HDL is 50, then your triglyceride to HDL ratio is 3.0.

Dr. Bowden goes on to say the following, “Elevated triglycerides can be due to being overweight, being inactive, smoking, or eating a diet very high in carbohydrates. You can bring triglyceride levels down rather easily by reducing sugar in the diet.” Diets that are lower in carbs have been shown in numerous studies to cause triglyceride levels to drop quickly.

In part 2 I’ll finish  discussing why eating cholesterol is not bad for us, why inflammation is the problem and what you can do to decrease triglycerides and inflammation.

Best & Worst Holiday Fitness Gifts

The Worst

Shake Weight: Where do I begin to talk about the fail of this product? Saturday Night Live and South Park have had their fill of making fun of this worthless gadget.

Shape-Ups: see my previous article here about my thoughts on these rip-offs

Any “ab device” sold on an infomercial: While some of these might actually work the abdominals effectively, my gripe is how they market them as the sole solution to getting a smaller waist. Reducing belly fat takes more than just some fancy piece of equipment. It takes eating right while using a well-designed overall exercise program.

Spanx for Men?: Ok, so the male version isn’t called Spanx, but a clever someone decided that since many guys have guts these days, why not appeal to the desire for that slim waistline while still being able to down a few six-packs per week.

The Best

TRX: Portable, versatile and a time saver. Does it get any better? While it won’t make a well-equipped gym obsolete, this is one of the best holiday buys for that fitness enthusiast. Check out a video I shot last summer of me using one.
Best of all, TRX’s are on sale for 20% off for the holidays and I never see them on sale. You can pick up one from here.

Gift Certificate with a Fitness Professional: Know someone who is spinning his or her wheels or whose workout could use a freshening up? Sport Fit offers gift certificates for personal training.

Gourmet Nutrition: By far the best cook book on the market for the fitness crowd. You can pick up a copy from here.
“From the creators of Precision Nutrition comes a cookbook for people who love to eat great food, but hate that after-dinner guilt. For those who love to eat with style, but hate to look “indulgent.” for those who love to entertain, but want to do it right. Enter Gourmet Nutrition: the cookbook for the fit food lover. We’ve taken the healthiest ingredients and whipped them into nearly 300 pages of delicious culinary creations that you can serve with confidence to the most discerning foodie — or the most nitpicky nutritionist. We’ve included detailed cooking instructions and ideas for improvisation. And we’ve even photographed every recipe in beautiful color to show you just how appetizing healthy food can be. Gourmet Nutrition is the cookbook that’s as friendly to your body as it is to your taste buds, and it’s equally at home on your kitchen counter and your coffee table.” –Amazon

Stability Ball: A must have for any home gym. It’s versatility, price, size and effectiveness make it one of the best overall pieces of gym equipment you can have. You can get one for about $20 at your local Wal-Mart or Target.