CF - Frequently Asked Questions

There are many questions based on the same subjects so here we have some useful answers to some frequently asked questions.

Q. What Makes Your Cholesterol High or Low?
A. Your blood cholesterol level is affected not only by what you eat but also by how quickly your body makes LDL ("bad") cholesterol and disposes of it. In fact, your body makes all the cholesterol it needs, and it is not necessary to take in any additional cholesterol from the foods you eat.

Many factors help determine whether your LDL-cholesterol level is high or low. The following factors are the most important:

Heredity
What You Eat
Weight
Physical activity/exercise
Age and Sex
Alcohol
Stress

Heredity. Your genes influence how high your LDL ("bad") cholesterol is by affecting how fast LDL is made and removed from the blood. One specific form of inherited high cholesterol that affects 1 in 500 people is familial hypercholesterolemia, which often leads to early heart disease. But even if you do not have a specific genetic form of high cholesterol, genes play a role in influencing your LDL-cholesterol level.

What you eat. Two main nutrients in the foods you eat make your LDL ("bad") cholesterol level go up: saturated fat, a type of fat found mostly in foods that come from animals; and cholesterol, which comes only from animal products. Saturated fat raises your LDL-cholesterol level more than anything else in the diet. Eating too much saturated fat and cholesterol is the main reason for high levels of cholesterol and a high rate of heart attacks in the United States. Reducing the amount of saturated fat and cholesterol you eat is a very important step in reducing your blood cholesterol levels.

Weight. Excess weight tends to increase your LDL ("bad") cholesterol level. If you are overweight and have a high LDL-cholesterol level, losing weight may help you lower it. Weight loss also helps to lower triglycerides and raise HDL ("good") cholesterol levels.

Physical activity/exercise. Regular physical activity may lower LDL ("bad") cholesterol and raise HDL ("good") cholesterol levels.

Age and sex. Before the age of menopause, women usually have total cholesterol levels that are lower than those of men the same age. As women and men get older, their blood cholesterol levels rise until about 60 to 65 years of age. After the age of about 50, women often have higher total cholesterol levels than men of the same age.

Alcohol. Alcohol intake increases HDL ("good") cholesterol but does not lower LDL ("bad") cholesterol. Doctors don't know for certain whether alcohol also reduces the risk of heart disease. Drinking too much alcohol can damage the liver and heart muscle, lead to high blood pressure, and raise triglycerides. Because of the risks, alcoholic beverages should not be used as a way to prevent heart disease.

Stress. Stress over the long term has been shown in several studies to raise blood cholesterol levels. One way that stress may do this is by affecting your habits. For example, when some people are under stress, they console themselves by eating fatty foods. The saturated fat and cholesterol in these foods contribute to higher levels of blood cholesterol.

Q. How does exercise lower your blood cholesterol?
A. Exercise helps lower cholesterol levels several ways:

Exercise increases the amount of HDL cholesterol (the good kind of cholesterol) in your blood, while reducing the amount of LDL cholesterol (the bad, artery-clogging kind of cholesterol).
Exercise promotes weight loss and weight control.
When you exercise, you tone up your whole body's circulation, helping to clear away clots in the blood vessels and making the heart a stronger, more efficient pump.

Q. What Types of Stress Reduction Exercise Are Most Effective?
"I've heard that exercise can be effective for stress reduction.
Why is this true, and which types of exercise are best for stress reduction?"

A. It's true that exercise is an excellent stress reduction tool, and this is true for several reasons:

1. Exercise helps release built-up tension in the body.
2. Exercise can give you a venue for releasing emotional tension as well.
3. Exercise releases endorphins and other "happy hormones" in your body, promoting a feeling of wellbeing.
4. Exercise helps promote overall health and wellbeing, which can also lessen your experience of stress.
5. Some forms of exercise allow you to be social, which can also be great for stress reduction. Other forms of exercise can allow you to get into a meditative state. Exercise can also raise feelings of self-esteem and bring other benefits that improve life quality.

With all these benefits, it's clear that if you're able to exercise, you should exercise! The next step is finding the right form of exercise. The following are excellent for stress relief, for the reasons mentioned above, and each has their own special offerings as well.

Take Steps -- Prevent and Lower High Blood Pressure
To prevent and lower high blood pressure:

Aim for a healthy weight.
Be active every day. You can walk, dance, use the stairs, play sports, or do any activity you enjoy.
Use less salt and sodium in cooking. Buy foods marked "sodium free," "low sodium," or "reduced sodium." Take the salt shaker off the table.
Eat more fruits and vegetables, whole grain breads and cereals, and low fat dairy products.
Cut back on alcohol. Men who drink should have no more than one or two drinks each day. Women who drink should have no more than one drink a day. Pregnant women should not drink any alcohol.

NB: If you are not used to taking exercise regularly, then it may be appropriate to take medical advice before starting an exercise program.

Q. What is a balanced diet?

A. The main components of a basic healthy diet are: proteins, fats, carbohydrates, minerals, vitamins and fibre. Most whole foods contain many nutrients in varying proportions, so a variety of foods will give you a good balance.

To eat well and feel healthy, choose whole, fresh, or carefully processed foods, and favour those of vegetable origin.

The Food Groups

Carbohydrates and fibre Starches and sugars are in grains, fruits, pulses (peas and beans), nuts, vegetables and milk.
Starch-rich foods (whole-grains, root vegetables, pulses and bananas) should form over a third of your daily calories.
Fibre keeps the bowel healthy and protects against high cholesterol levels, certain cancers, gallstones and obesity.

Fats provide insulation, build cells and facilitate metabolism. The are made of saturated, polyunsaturated, and mono-unsaturated fatty acids.
A variety of foods provides a good balance. Animal fats and hard margarines contain more saturated fatty acids than do soft vegetable fats and oils.
Essential fatty acids are unsaturated fats essential for healthy skin, bone, brain, and nerves. They are used for cell membrane metabolism and to make prostaglandins and other substances necessary to control blood clotting and inflammation.

Proteins contain amino acids used to build and repair cells and regulate metabolism. All fruits and vegetable contain some protein.
Good sources are peas, beans, lentils, grains, nuts, seeds, sprouted seeds, and potatoes. Animal proteins are milk, yoghurt, cheese, meat, eggs, and fish.

Minerals build and maintain bones and teeth, control the composition of body fluids and cells, and release energy. A variety of foods gives the minerals you need.

Vitamins are vital for normal body chemistry. They all come from food, but vitamin D is also produced by the action of daylight on the skin, and vitamin K from micro-organisms in the bowel.

Eight-point plan

Eat plenty of fibre, pulses, whole grains, foods made with wholegrain flour (such as wholegrain bread), and fruit and vegetables give you the benefit of fibre as well as it's associated essential fatty acids, minerals and vitamins. Grains are better only coarsely ground.

Eat plenty of fresh fruit and vegetables, especially green leafy ones. These give vitamins, flavonoids, minerals, essential fatty acids, and fibre you need. Peel fruit as little as possible (peel and pith are nutrient rich). Cool vegetables lightly by streaming or stir-frying, and eat some raw daily to benefit from their hormones and enzymes.

Cut down your fat intake (especially saturated fat). Choose fish, offal (organ meat), game, poultry, wholegrain, pulses, nuts, or sprouted seeds, rather than red meat and cheese.

Cut down your sugar intake. Use sugar as a flavouring rather than a food. Avoid cakes, sweets, chocolates, biscuits, puddings, ice-cream, jams, fruits canned in syrup, soft drinks, sugar in tea and coffee, and mild shakes.

Cut down on your salt intake. Instead of adding salt to your food use herbs, spices, fresh ginger, horse radish, garlic, lemon juice, tomato puree, vinegar, soy sauce, vegetable stock, yeast extract, chutney and other flavourings.

Cut down on your consumption of processed foods to avoid the "empty calories" of saturated fats, added sugar, refined cereal grains and additives.

Drink only moderate amounts of alcohol.

If you are overweight, exercise more and consume the amount of food and drink that will enable you to reach and keep your optimal body weight.

Click here for a simple meal plan

Q. Why does my personal trainer perform repeated fitness tests

A. The initial testing session can give us an idea of where your fitness levels are at the start of a fitness program, so that future testing can be compared to this and any changes can be noted. For sport specific programs a baseline is especially important if you are about to embark on a new training phase. Subsequent tests should be planned for the end and start of each new phase.

By repeating tests at regular intervals, you can get an idea of the effectiveness of the training program. The period between tests may range from two to six weeks. It usually takes a minimum of 2-6 weeks to see a demonstrable change in any aspect of fitness.
*Provide Motivational Incentives - The incentive to improve can often be provided by the 'goal' of a certain test score, by knowing that they will be tested again at a later date, you can aim to improve in that area.

Testing is primarily used for help in designing the most appropriate athletic training program. A general non-sport specific testing battery can provide you with an idea of your basic strengths and weaknesses, and from this you may find you would be better suited to another sport which makes better use of your strengths.

Do you have some weight loss tips that work?

Drink hot water and lemon first up in the morning. Try and drink a minimum of 2 litres of water a day. A glass before meals.
One coffee a day - enjoy and love that one hit of energy boost.
Never skip your meals please. Your last supper should be no later than 7.30pm, snack on fruit and nuts if you feel the need.
Try and avoid yeast products, mushrooms, white wine and wheat - they make a bubbling bread factory in your gut.
One lovely small glass of red vino a day. Sip with love and swoosh around your pallet to enjoy the full experience.
No diet coke.
Dark, good quality chocolate as a treat if your in need of some comfort
Veggies and Fruit plentiful please, greener and the more colourful the better.
Olive oil is good, butter is a treat so try to avoid adding to your cooking or smearing onto anything.
Oily fish will give you lots of brain power and is great for keeping your nails strong and your skin and hair looking radiant.
Eggs, whites are a fantastic source of protein but the yummy yolks are very calorific so not so many of those.

Suggested Weight Loss Diet Plan

Breakfast
Porridge Oats with milk or soya
or
Baked Beans on 2 x toast no butter - organic no added sugar or salt
or
Bran flakes/ corn flakes/oat flakes (any flakes but not sugar coated flakes), with banana and 1 x yoghurt

Lunch
Baked Potatoes with any filling but not cheese and salad - no dressing, mayo and butter
or
Ham and Salad sandwich or wrap- no butter or mayo
or
Rice salad with any lean cooked meat of fish
or
Soup and a roll & a bowl of salad or veg

No limit to fruit and veggies
If you feel like a squirrel then have some dried fruit and nuts for a snack. No crisps, chocolate
and sweeties.

Evening Meal
Again unlimited veggies and fruit
Lean cooked meat, fish or pulses with one of the following: Rice, Pasta, Potatoes, Couscous or salad
No cream, no cheese. You can use low fat dairy alternatives for special occasions.

No cheese and apple. No after dinner mints please.... that's your lot!

It's just text book stuff regarding weight loss. The key is to be patient as you want this weight loss to stay off.
Slow weight loss is fat and not just water retention.

Remember that your body is constantly adapting according to the demands you put on it.
Eat well and exercise with moderation is the healthy way to keep your ideal weight.
Starving yourself and mad exercise bursts will only slow your body metabolism and the
weight will pile on with loads more when you have a break.

Q. Is gentle or vigorous exercise better for health?
A. According to research carried out by Exeter University and published in Preventative medicine, middle ages and older adults are not aware of the relationship between the intensity of exercise done and the degree of health benefits gained.
The researchers add that 30 minutes of brisk walking a day may be enough to reduce the risk of breast cancer, but regular participation in vigorous exercise probably needed to reduce the risk of prostate and colorectal cancers. Lead researcher, Dr Gary O'Donovan, suggests that sedentary adults should complete a six to twelve week programme of moderate exercise before considering a programme of vigorous exercise. Men older that 45 and women older than 55 should consult their GP before taking up vigorous exercise.

Source: Preventative Medicine 2007; 45:432-435