| Alcohol |
Alcohol does not reduce total cholesterol or LDL (“bad”) cholesterol levels. However, if you have high cholesterol, drinking in moderation is okay and can actually have beneficial effects like increasing your good cholesterol and act as a blood thinner to reduce clotting. Experts believe alcohol helps reduce stress. Drinking too much comes with its own risks like increasing your blood pressure, triglycerides, and risk of stroke, causing depression, and adding unwanted calories to your diet.
Men with high cholesterol should not have more than two drinks per day with a couple of alcohol-free days per week while women with high cholesterol should not consume for than one drink per day with the same number of alcohol-free days as men. A drink is defined as 12 ounces of beer, 5 ounces of wine, and 1.5 ounces of hard liquor.
All alcoholic drinks are not created equal. Wine can provide additional benefits because wine contains phytochemicals, which include antioxidants and flavonoids, that appear to reduce the risk of heart disease. Red wine has shown to have the most positive effects of any alcohol.
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| melsQuiz answer |
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| melsBuzz |
- If you haven’t started drinking alcohol in moderation, don’t start. You are much better off focusing on your diet and exercising than trying to consume alcohol to reduce your cholesterol. The risks do not justify the benefits.
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| melsAdvice |
- Drink occasionally. I’m not a big fan of empty calories.
- Whatever you drink, enjoy it. Savor the taste of a good glass of wine, marvel at the flavors in a mixed drink, or admire the smell, look, and flavor of an artesian beer
- If you drink socially, replace alcohol with a sparkling water with lemon or limes
- Drinking always goes better for good food. Stay away from sugary or salty snacks
- If you are going to consume alcohol, make sure that you are eating a balanced diet
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| DidYouKnow? |
- Alcohol is addicting and because more than 1 or 2 drinks per day can cause serious medical problems (including heart failure), the American Heart Association recommends that doctors not encourage their patients to resort to alcohol to improve their cardiovascular risk.
- Alcohol can contribute to Diabetes
- Binge drinking can dramatically increase your blood pressure and the risk of stroke
- In several research studies, moderate drinking let to an increase of your good cholesterol by approximately 5.1 mg/dL
- Approximately 30% of adults in American believe moderate drinking can be part of a healthy, balanced life
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| melsTips |
- You need to truly understand how alcohol affects your body before using it to reduce your cholesterol
- Although the nutritional value of alcoholic drinks vary, alcohol contains no fat, no cholesterol, and very little sodium. Read labels.
- If you must drink, pick a drink that relaxes you
- Whatever you are drinking, try and make it complimentary to what you are eating. Both will taste more satisfying
- If you must drink, drink slowly and enjoy it
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| melsQuiz |
- What is the “French Paradox?’
- Since drinking in moderation increases your good cholesterol, how does this really help our body?
- According to a majority of research studies, does drinking alcohol contribute to weight gain?
- Does drinking alcohol in moderation destroy brain cells?
- What is shochu?
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| melsQuiz Answers |
- The French eat rich, fatty foods and significantly consume more red wine than Americans, but the French death rate from heart disease is about half of what it is in America
- Good cholesterol helps clear (not significantly) excess cholesterol from our arteries
- No. There is no direct correlation. The reason is unclear. Studies suggest that alcohol increases your metabolic rate (causing calories to burn faster) and decreases your urge for sugar-laden products. However other studies show that alcohol increases your appetite calorie-dense foods
- No
- Shochu is a clear, distilled spirit derived from barley that similar to Vodka and is extremely popular (because of its low caloric content) with health-minded Japanese people who often mix shochu with oolong tea, fruit juices, or salty ume-plums
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