Tuesday’s Tip|Weight loss and Vitamin C|Improve Cholesterol

These two tips seem like no-brainers to me. I was surprised they even made the list from
my doctor. I was given a list of ten tips to reduce my cholesterol and improve my heart health, this is part 4 of the series. (See cholesterol tags for more of the tips.)

Weight Loss

This seemed obvious to me, but the tip should be another motivator to get moving. Get out of that cube and start moving. The reality is that a 5-10% loss of body weight often results in a total cholesterol dropping 8% and triglycerides dropping 13%. Get more aggressive with weight loss and the numbers just keep getting better. With 20% weight loss cholester drops 22% and triglycerides 40%. Now those are some great numbers.

The World Health Organization recommends using one measure to judge your weight. They recommend a waist size of less than 35 inches for females and less than 40 inches for males.

Since I’ve been workin’ on my fitness for decades this doesn’t really help me much since I was already under their recommendations. If anything I would like to gain some weight; lean muscle mass, but that’s another whole story.

Vitamin C

I grew up in a home that placed Vitamin C in the cure all category. Just about every ailment was first treated with mega doses of Vitamin C. It worked, so when I read this recommendation it just confirmed my deeply seated belief in the power of Vitamin C.

The recommendation was to take 500mg twice a day and that it would reduce total cholesterol. Other sites claim that Vit C reduces total cholesterol and LDL levels, while increasing HDL level.

About Troy Pesola

Troy is the founder of Cube.Dweller.Fitness. He's an innovation catalyst in several areas of life including business, marketing, and process improvement. Outside of work he's actively involved in fitness, health, and living vibrantly in the Rocky Mountains of Colorado.