Eat more Fruit and Vegetables

Some areas in Stockport have access to local fruit and vegetable schemes.

‘Green Man’ Fruit and Vegetable sales

Eat more fish

Fish is a healthy source of protein and you should aim to eat at least 2 portions per week. One of these should be a portion of oily fish. These are high in omega 3 fats which may prevent heart disease. Oily fish include salmon, mackerel, trout, herring, fresh tuna, sardines and pilchards. Non-oily fish tend to be white fish e.g. cod, haddock, plaice, coley, skate and hake plus tinned tuna.

Eat more wholegrains

A diet high in fibre has many health benefits. It can prevent heart disease, improve digestive health and plays an important role in weight management.
Most people in the UK do not get enough fibre.
Eating foods high in fibre will help you feel fuller for longer and this will help if you are trying to lose weight.
Fibre is only found in plant-based foods, there are two types of fibre; soluble and insoluble.

Soluble fibre can be digested by your body. It can help to reduce your cholesterol levels and blood sugar and also improves your heart health. It can be found in all fruit and vegetables and particularly good sources include: apples, oats and barley.

Insoluble fibre cannot be digested. It passes through the gut without being broken down and helps other foods to move through your digestive system more easily therefore keeping the bowels healthy and preventing constipation. Good sources of insoluble fibre are beans (all varieties), lentils, nuts, seeds and wholegrain products.

What is wholegrain?

Most of the goodness in grains is in the outer bran layer and germ of the seeds. Wholegrain products can contain 75% more nutrients than refined cereals. When shopping check the packaging and look for the word ‘whole’ before the name of the product e.g. wholewheat pasta, whole oats and make sure they are first/high up in the ingredients list. Easy ways to include your fibre intake
Choose wholegrain breakfast cereals, pasta and brown rice instead of refined versions. Eat more fruit, vegetables, pulses and seeds. It is important to increase your fibre intake gradually to avoid stomach cramps and bloating and aim to drink approximately 8 glasses of fluids per day.

Cholesterol

The Many Vital Roles of Cholesterol and the Myths & Truths
"Its like blaming the ambulance for blocking the road not the car crash"
Through a complex system of hormonal checks and balances, our bodies know when to make more cholesterol, and when to back off as dietary supply meets daily needs.
Forming the backbone for numerous steroid hormones manufactured in the ovaries, testicles and adrenal glands, cholesterol plays a critical role in controlling the body's stress response, defence system, sexual development, and numerous other metabolic functions. It's also a major component of cholecalciferol (also known as Vitamin D3, made in skin exposed to sunlight), which assures proper absorption of calcium and phosphorus, maintains normal muscle tone and takes part in several immune and reproductive processes.

Other studies have shown that cholesterol can bind to and inactivate a broad array of toxic substances. This ties in nicely with the observation that low blood levels are associated with higher incidence of cancers. Makes sense that if you remove a substance which can neutralize carcinogenic substances, you're likely to see increases in tumour formation.
It was research in the fifties that first led to the connection with heart disease and this has stayed despite further research in modern times. It's now known that cholesterol is one of the body's repair substances- an anti-oxidant band-aid of sorts. When we eat artery damaging foods like hydrogenated and trans-fat laden vegetable oils, excess refined sugar, white flour, and, of course, over-cooked animal products, 'good' cholesterol levels will rise in response to the assault, attempting to moderate the damage.

The modern day tendency to address the symptom (rather than the problem) by taking drugs to lower blood levels of cholesterol is stopping the natural balance of this necessary component rather than preventing the arterial damage caused by bad diet. Its rather like blaming the ambulance for blocking the road rather than the car crash
Cholesterol in cell membranes makes cells waterproof so there can be a different chemistry on the inside and the outside of the cell.
Cholesterol is nature’s repair substance, used to repair wounds, including tears and irritations in the arteries.

Many important hormones are made of cholesterol, including hormones that regulate mineral metabolism and blood sugar, hormones that help us deal with stress, and all the sex hormones, such as testosterone, oestrogen and progesterone.
Cholesterol is vital to the function of the brain and nervous system.
Cholesterol protects us against depression; it plays a role in the utilization of serotonin, the body’s “feel-good” chemical.
The bile salts, needed for the digestion of fats, are made from cholesterol.

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