Healthy Diet & Healthy Eating

Healthy eating habits isn't as confusing or as restrictive as many people imagine. The first principle of a healthy diet is simply to eat a wide variety of foods. This is important because different foods make different nutritional contributions.

A healthy diet doesn't have to mean eating foods that are bland or unappealing. A healthy diet begins with healthy eating namely learning how to “eat smart” it’s not just what you eat, but how you eat.

1. Consumption of high fiber foods that is, fruits, vegetables, beans, and whole grains. These are relatively low in calories.
2. Consumption of green fruits, orange fruits, yellow fruits and vegetables such as broccoli, carrots, cantaloupe, and citrus fruits. The antioxidants and other nutrients in these foods may help protect against developing certain types of cancer and other diseases.
3. Limit your intake of sugary foods, many sugary foods are also high in fat, so they’re calorie-dense.
4. Choose low fat or nonfat dairy products.
5. Keep your cholesterol intake below 300 milligrams per day. Cholesterol is found only in animal products, such as meats, poultry, dairy products, and egg yolks.
6. Maintain an adequate calcium intake. Calcium is essential for strong bones and teeth. Calcium from low fat sources, such as skim milk and low fat yogurt.
7. Exercise and other physical activity are essential.
8. Excess alcohol consumption leads to a variety of health problems, alcoholic beverages can add many calories to your diet without supplying.  One drink a day for women, two a day for men.

Dyslipidemia - Fat in The Blood Rises Above Normal Limits

Dyslipidemia is a condition in which levels of Fat in the blood rises above normal limits. Fats that have increased include cholesterol, triglycerides or combination of both.

Cholesterol is an essential element found in all human cell membranes and is a structural component of steroid hormones and bile acid. The absence of cholesterol in the body can lead the disruption of its body functions and can cause death. That's why the cholesterol levels should be kept within certain limits, should not be too much and also not be too little.

Triglycerides is a important component of fat for transferring energy from food into body cells. Lipoprotein is divided into several types based on its density. The density is based on the number of cholesterol, triglycerides and apoprotein that exist.

Lipoprotein that has the highest density and the Lowest density are called High Density Lipoprotein (HDL), known as the nice cholesterol. Lipoprotein with lower density is called Low Density Lipoprotein. While the type of lipoprotein that has the lowest density and the biggest density is called Very Low Density Lipoproteins (VLDL).

Low Density Lipoprotein (LDL) has potential to cause health problems, this LDL has increased in accordance with age and normal limit LDL higher in men than women, Hyperlipidemia can develop into atherosclerosis that it would lead to the cardiovascular disorders.

Atherosclerosis

Atherosclerosis is a condition that fat and plaque buildup along of the walls of the arteries that can hamper blood flow to various parts of the body. Decreasing the blood flow can lead of decreasing of oxygen and nutrients contained in the blood causing damage of tissues and organ.

Decreasing the blood flow can lead to serious problems, including hearts disease, coronary, carotid artery disease, peripheral vascular disease, heart attack, stroke or even death. Although the cause of atherosclerosis actualy have not known yet. Research show that the disease began in childhood and the process increases rapidly by the age.

Smoking, high blood cholesterol and triglyceride of blood levels, hypertension and high blood sugar levels (diabetes) are some examples of risk factors that can damage the inner lining (endothelium) of the arteries.

Damage of endothelium will lead accumulation of fat, cholesterol, platelets (blood pieces), the rest of the body’s metabolic products, calcium and the other substances in the arterial wall. This series will stimulate artery wall cells to produce other substances in increasing fat deposition, resulting in narrowing artery diameter and blood flow decreased.

Atherosclerosis usually does not show any signs or symptoms until narrowing or blockage of an artery totally, unfortunately the disease recognize after the patient experienced a medical emergency, such as heart disease and strokes.

Therefore, it’s important to identify risk factors early and change unhealthy lifestyles, especially for those who have the problem of obesity, smoking, hypertension, high blood cholesterol levels and no history of heart disease personally or in the familly.