Your risk for heart and blood vessel disease increases with high blood cholesterol. Know your levels and make lifestyle changes to decrease your risk!

Cholesterol is just one type of blood fat which has a strong relationship bet. It can stick to the walls of the blood vessels and clog them. One egg yolk contains about 300 milligrams of cholesterol. More important, your body is a factory for making much larger amounts of cholesterol. Your body makes the equivalent of 2 dozen eggs per day from sugar! Control your factory by spreading small meals evenly throughout the day.

Eat less sugar and fat. Spread foods evenly throughout the day.

The total cholesterol equals the sum of HDL, LDL, & VLDL. HDL or “high density lipoprotein” is the good cholesterol and can be increased with exercise. LDL or “low density lipoprotein” is the

bad cholesterol. LDL can stick to the walls of your arteries causing blockages. VLDL or “very low density lipoprotein” equals triglycerides divided by 5.

A normal fasting blood sugar is 65 – 110 mg/dl. The diagnosis of diabetes begins with a fasting blood sugar of 126 mg/dl. Diabetes is a significant risk for cardiovascular disease. One reason is that high blood sugars feed the factory for making triglycerides and cholesterol.

Body Mass Index (BMI) is a relationship between height and weight. Standards for children are based on gender (girls or boys) and age in years. Use these tables to find when overweight begins and when obesity begins. If your daughter is 10 years old, overweight begins with a BMI of 20, obesity would begin with a BMI of 23. If your son is 12 years old, overweight begins with a BMI of 21, obesity begins with a BMI of 24¼. For adults, overweight begins with a BMI of 25; obesity begins with a BMI of 30.

Examples:

•  A 10-year-old girl would be considered overweight with a BMI of 20 and obese with a BMI of 23. If she is 4’6” tall, she is overweight at 83 pounds and obese at 95 pounds.
  
•  A 8-year-old boy would be considered overweight with a BMI of 18 and obese with a BMI of 20. If he is 4’0” tall, he is overweight at 59 pounds and obese at 75 pounds.
  
•  A 5’2” woman is overweight with a BMI of 25 and obese with a BMI of 30. She would be overweight at 137 pounds and obese at 164 pounds.
  
•  A 6’0” man is overweight with a BMI of 25 and obese with a BMI of 30. He would be overweight at 184 pounds and obese at 221 pounds.

First, determine your body size by measuring your elbow breadth. Extend your arm and bend the forearm upward at a ninety-degree angle. Keep your fingers straight and turn your palm toward your body. Place the thumb and index finger of your other hand on the two prominent bones on either side of

your elbow. Measure the space between your fingers against a ruler. Now, use the table to determine the medium elbow breadth for gender and height. If the distance is less than the standard for your height, you have a small frame. If it is greater, you have a large frame.

Calories in the form of protein, carbohydrate, fat, and alcohol supply your body with energy. If you eat more calories than you need, you gain weight. If you eat fewer calories than you need, you burn fat and lose weight. Increasing exercise will shift the energy balance toward weight loss.

One pound of body fat equals 3,500 calories.
Reduce intake by 500 Calories
per day to lose 1 pound per week.

Protein supplies the body with the building blocks called amino acids to make muscles and other healthy tissue. Major food sources are dairy products, eggs, meat, and grains. The amount of energy from protein is 4 calories per gram. About 15% of a 2000-calorie diet comes from protein. This equals 300 calories or 75 grams of protein.

Carbohydrate supplies the body with energy. This helps to keep the protein from being used for energy. When losing weight, you want to lose fat and not protein containing muscle. Major food sources are grains, fruits, vegetables, and milk. The amount of energy from carbohydrate is 4 calories per gram. About 55% of a 2000 calorie diet comes from carbohydrate. This equals 1100 calories or 275 grams of carbohydrate. During weight reduction, consume at least 100 grams of carbohydrate

per day.

Fat supplies the body with the most concentrated form of energy. When reducing calorie intake, fat is the most important nutrient to modify. Major food sources are butter, margarine, oils, dressings, fatty meats, and whole milk. The amount of energy from fat is 9 calories per gram. About 30% of a 2000 calorie diet comes from fat. This equals 600 calories or 67 grams of fat. One pat of margarine weighs 5 grams and contains 45 calories. It is very sneaky!

Alcohol provides 7 calories per gram. Alcohol has been shown to increase blood pressure. If your weight is normal, do not consume more than one serving of an alcoholic beverage per day. Major food sources include hard liquor, beer, and wine.

It takes more energy to carry extra weight. Imagine how much more energy you would need to carry fifty pounds of potatoes. It makes me tired to think about it. We gradually adapt to the stress of carrying extra pounds by decreasing activity. Walking a single mile becomes difficult. If you are slim, you may be comfortable walking a mile in 15 minutes. If you are overweight, you may find it difficult to walk a mile in 20 minutes. It is a frustrating cycle. Weight gain leads to decreased activity and decreased activity leads to weight gain!

Each asterisk * indicates one carbohydrate exchange or about 15 grams. Each meal contains 3 exchanges. The daily intake is 150 grams of carbohydrate or 600 calories. The remaining

The National Research Council of the United States National Academy of Sciences has established guidelines on what quantities of the various nutrients should be eaten by men and women of various ages. The following recommendations came from a report on August 13, 1997 from the National Academy.

The changes that have been made are to change the name from Recommended Dietary Allowances (RDA) to Dietary

Reference Intakes (DRI). The DRI for calcium, Vitamin C, and Vitamin E have increased.

The amounts listed below are for men and women between the ages of 19 and 22. After menopause, women who do not take estrogen supplements should increase their intake of calcium to 1200 mg.

Vitamin E

Vitamin K