Love Your Heart
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Ah, Valentine’s Day is near. Traditionally, a favorite holiday of many women, Valentine’s Day brings with it great anticipation and great expectations. We women daydream about how our loves will bless us and, likewise, how we can bless them. We strive to make our loved one’s heart overflow with love, romance, and sticky-icky sentiment.
But, have you taken time out to think about your own heart, lately? No, not your romantic heart, but your real heart. You know, your h-e-a-r-t; the organ responsible for pumping life through your body on a moment-by-moment, daily basis. That heart. Do you take time to love your heart?
Well, with all that Valentine’s Day brings with it, this holiday is also a good time to remind ourselves to be attentive to our own heart that does so much for us (did you know that February is also American Heart Month?). In my opinion, one of the best things we can do for our heart is to be aware of our cholesterol consumption. We need to know healthful recommendations, the effects of cholesterol on our heart, and how we can combat high cholesterol.
Honestly, as I write this post, I realize that knowing recommendations for cholesterol, its effects, and how to combat it is a lot to handle. So, I will address the first two and leave the combat for a later post.
First, how much cholesterol should we be consuming on a daily basis? Well, according to the USDA, it is 200-300 mg per day. But, believe it or not, we actually don’t need to ingest any cholesterol—our liver creates what our body needs on its own. Wow! Isn’t that amazing?
But, it is very realistic that somewhere, somehow, we will ingest some cholesterol in a meal. So, in the likely event that some cholesterol is included in your meals (hamburger anyone?), the simplest way to assess how much you’re getting is to read your Nutrition Fact Labels. It’s right there for us in black and white. The USDA has helped us out by requiring all food manufacturers to place Nutrition Fact Labels on their products. All that is left for us to do is the math.
Next, let’s talk a bit about the effects of cholesterol on our hearts. Umm, here’s where things get interesting. I need a good analogy here…I’m going out on a limb and will assume that you have dealt with a clogged sink drain at least once in your life, right? Well, you know how everything just gets backed up and won’t go down or drains very slowly? That is a simple picture of what happens when we get too much cholesterol into the arteries that lead to our heart. And, we all know how much hard work is involved with cleaning a clogged drain. Can you imagine what is required to clear our clogged arteries? You can consult your local cardiologist for the gory details.
In light of this information about cholesterol and our heart, you have my express permission to do something for yourself this Valentine’s Day. Take the time to love your own heart. You can start by taking a look at some of the posts in my “Healthy Eating” category like “Eating Lite & Early” or “…Healthy Fried Foods?” Also, soy is a wonderful heart-health food.
Some foods you definitely want to watch out for are cream-based or dairy-based condiments like mayo, cream dressings, tartar, cream cheese, etc. These are huge sources of cholesterol that we may not even think about. Do yourself and your heart a favor and just kick the condiments. And, as for chocolate? Well, girlfriend to girlfriend, a little nibble won’t hurt. 
I hope you and your heart have a wonderful Valentine’s day and I hope all you Future Figure girlfriends get diamonds.
P.S. – Hey Ladies, don’t forget to get your FREE “Weight Loss Success Secrets” Report, where I reveal how all the low-fat, low-cal, low-carb diets are literally sabotaging your weight loss efforts. And, a great weight loss solution to achieve your future figure. Click here to get the Report! It’s FREE.
P.P.S – Oh, and just in case you weren’t sure…Yes, please post your comments here. I’d love to hear from you.
Tags: cholesterol consumption, combat high cholesterol, effects of cholesterol, high cholesterol, love your heart, nutrition fact labels
