PETER'S PRINCIPLES - August 5, 2007
Robert from Farmington Hills emails saying he has high cholesterol. How important is it for him to lower it?
Robert, it is extremely important! A number of studies proved lowering your overall cholesterol can reduce your risk of heart disease and stroke. More than 100,000,000 Americans suffer with high cholesterol and experts have found what you eat is a major cause of the condition. So what can you do? Cut down on saturated fat and avoid trans fat. Research found trans fats increase your LDL, the bad cholesterol, and decreases your HDL, the good kind.
Limit your daily cholesterol intake to less than 200 milligrams a day and increase your complex carbohydrates and fiber, which includes fruits, vegetables and whole grains.
Frank from Novi says he is having a hard time remembering things he never used to forget, like telephone numbers. What can he do?
Well Frank, the first thing you need to do is exercise your brain. That is right, just like you exercise your body you need to do aerobics for your brain. Researchers studied thousands of patients suffering with memory loss and found 3 things you can do right now to improve your memory. First, expand your brain. You can widen your brain regions by reading aloud, drawing a picture or writing down information. It will help you remember it later. Next, repeat, repeat, repeat. When you want to remember something you just heard, repeat it out loud. Finally, challenge yourself. Do activities that force you to concentrate like crossword puzzles or try a new hobby or project which require skills you arenŐt familiar with.
