Lifestyle recommendations for those with high cholesterol: A proper understanding, good habits, and seasonal changes.

Lifestyle Dos and Don'ts: Doing and Not Doing Things to Lower Lipids

High blood lipids should be viewed correctly.

High blood lipids are a common disease among middle-aged and elderly people. It is well known that they are one of the main risk factors for atherosclerosis and coronary heart disease. When the body ingests more fat and cholesterol, intestinal absorption increases, blood lipid concentration rises, liver synthesis is inhibited, and metabolism cannot be properly regulated. If a high-fat diet continues at this time, it can eventually cause serious lesions in the vascular system and other organs. However, blood lipids are essential substances for the formation of nerve tissue and certain hormones in the human body. Low-density lipoprotein (LDL) and very low-density lipoprotein (VLDL) are the most harmful to the body, as they are important factors in causing atherosclerosis. High-density lipoprotein (HDL), on the other hand, can prevent atherosclerosis. Therefore, the reasonable approach is to lower excessively high LDL and VLDL, while HDL should be as high as possible.

Many patients have misconceptions about high cholesterol due to a lack of understanding of its pathology. In fact, high cholesterol, like high blood sugar and high blood pressure, is a manifestation of decreased metabolic function and metabolic disorder. Middle-aged and elderly patients often develop high cholesterol due to weakened bodily functions and require medication to enhance their metabolic capacity and maintain blood lipid levels within the normal range. Therefore, it's inevitable that various indicators will "rebound" after stopping medication. While people are increasingly aware that diabetes cannot be cured and requires medication, the understanding of high cholesterol remains quite vague. In reality, the prevention and treatment of high cholesterol are similar to those of diabetes.

It is advisable to develop good living habits

A healthy lifestyle is crucial for preventing and treating hyperlipidemia. Experts believe that individuals with hyperlipidemia should cultivate the following healthy habits:

First, strengthen physical exercise. Exercise for 1 hour every day, with the amount of exercise reaching 60% of the maximum oxygen consumption. The heart rate during exercise should not exceed 170 beats per minute, or you should be slightly sweaty, not feel tired, and feel relaxed after exercise. You should exercise for no less than 5 days a week and persevere.

Second, long-term smoking and excessive drinking can interfere with lipid metabolism, causing cholesterol and triglycerides to rise and high-density lipoprotein to fall; therefore, patients with hyperlipidemia should quit smoking and limit alcohol consumption.

Third, emotional excitement, insomnia, overwork, irregular lifestyle, anxiety, depression, etc., can disrupt lipid metabolism, so it is important to avoid mental stress.

Fourth, avoid using drugs that interfere with lipid metabolism, such as beta-blockers, propranolol, diuretics, hydrochlorothiazide, furosemide, reserpine, contraceptives, and steroid hormones, all of which can increase cholesterol and triglycerides and decrease high-density lipoprotein.

Fifth, actively treat diseases that affect lipid metabolism, such as diabetes, hypothyroidism, nephrotic syndrome, alcoholism, pancreatitis, lupus erythematosus, etc., all of which can interfere with lipid metabolism.

Sixth, middle-aged people over 45 years old, obese people, people with a family history of high blood lipids, people who frequently attend social gatherings involving food and drink, and people who work under high mental stress are all high-risk groups and should have their blood lipids checked regularly (at least once a year).

Seventh, anyone who has not responded to dietary adjustments, increased exercise, and lifestyle improvements for 3 to 6 months, or who already has coronary heart disease, or who, although not having coronary heart disease, has excessively high blood lipids, requires medication. Generally, those with primary, familial, or genetic deficiencies require lifelong medication; stopping medication midway often leads to relapse and rebound.

Pay attention to seasonal changes

Studies both domestically and internationally have confirmed that, similar to animals, blood lipid levels in humans vary significantly across different seasons. A study conducted by Beijing Fuwai Hospital between 1973 and 1974, involving 52 healthy individuals who were not taking any medication, monitored blood lipids in each of the four seasons: spring, summer, autumn, and winter. The results showed that serum total cholesterol (TC) levels were highest in autumn and lowest in summer, with a statistically significant difference between the two seasons (P<0.005). Similarly, serum triglyceride (TG) levels were highest in spring and lowest in autumn, with a statistically significant difference between the two seasons (P<0.005). Therefore, when managing the diet of patients with hyperlipidemia, the influence of different seasons on blood lipids must be considered. Since serum triglyceride levels are highest in spring, the intake of animal fats and carbohydrates should be reduced, along with a decrease in total calorie intake, to prevent the harmful effects of excessive triglyceride levels. Since serum total cholesterol levels are lowest in summer, the intake of egg yolks and animal meat can be appropriately increased to ensure adequate cholesterol supply. Because serum total cholesterol levels are highest and triglyceride levels are lowest in autumn, one should reduce the intake of high-cholesterol foods such as egg yolks and animal organs, and appropriately increase the intake of animal fats and vegetable oils to prevent an increase in serum total cholesterol and a decrease in triglycerides, thus ensuring the supply of energy.

Long-term aerobic exercise is recommended.

Previous experience has shown that exercise, especially aerobic exercise, combined with proper dietary control, can effectively control weight, thereby lowering blood lipids and achieving weight loss. The latest experimental results also confirm this.

A mouse experiment aimed at combating arteriosclerosis was conducted, investigating the molecular mechanism of aerobic exercise in reducing fat. Professor Chen Jidi and her graduate students from the Institute of Sports Medicine at Peking University Third Hospital used mice with high blood lipid levels in their experiment. They subjected these mice to daily aerobic exercise (swimming and running). After 6 to 8 weeks, they found that the mice's blood lipid levels had significantly decreased, high-density lipoprotein cholesterol levels had significantly increased, and the formation of atherosclerotic plaques had been significantly inhibited.

High-density lipoprotein (HDL) is what we commonly call "good" cholesterol. Professor Chen's experiments have shown that aerobic exercise can lower blood lipids because it can increase the gene expression level of HDL receptors, thereby lowering the level of low-density lipoprotein (LDL, commonly known as "bad" cholesterol) and raising the level of HDL, thus promoting fat metabolism.

Exercise increases the body's energy expenditure. Walking, running, or swimming burns several to dozens of times more energy than sitting. Research data shows that when physical activity burns 239 kcal per day or 1313 to 1673 kcal per week, and no extra calories are consumed after exercise, weight loss and fat reduction will occur.

While all forms of exercise can burn energy, aerobic exercise is the most effective. The energy consumed during exercise is supplied by the oxidation of stored sugars and fats in the body. Experiments have shown that compared to other forms of exercise, moderate-intensity aerobic exercise burns the most fat.

It is advisable to soak your feet and massage them frequently.

Traditional Chinese medicine believes that the human body is a unified whole. The internal organs, limbs, and bones are interdependent, mutually restrictive, and interconnected. A disease in one part of the body can affect other parts. The feet are an important part of the body, so diseases of the whole body can affect the feet. Similarly, diseases of the feet can also affect the whole body and trigger corresponding diseases.

Soaking your feet in hot water promotes blood circulation, warms the internal organs, and unblocks meridians, thereby regulating organ function, promoting blood circulation throughout the body, improving capillary patency, enhancing the nutritional status of tissues, and strengthening metabolism. This results in a feeling of relaxation and well-being, greatly benefiting health. A folk saying goes: "Foot baths in spring invigorate Yang and strengthen the body; foot baths in summer dispel dampness and heat; foot baths in autumn moisten the lungs and intestines; foot baths in winter warm the lower abdomen." Traditional Chinese medicine believes that the entire body is connected by meridians, and the soles of the feet are a convergence point of these meridians, also known as reflex zones.

The reflex zones on the soles of the feet are connected to every nerve in the body, linking to the internal organs. Traditional Chinese medicine foot baths utilize the principle of treating internal diseases from the outside. The effective components of Chinese herbs are dissolved in water through boiling, and then the water, its temperature, pressure, and solubility in contact with the feet are used to deliver the medicinal properties to the internal organs through the meridians, thus achieving therapeutic and health-promoting effects. It is particularly effective for patients with coronary heart disease, dysmenorrhea, Raynaud's disease, arteriosclerosis obliterans, and other conditions involving qi stagnation and blood stasis, as well as microcirculatory disorders.

Avoid being excessively overweight

As living standards improve, we enjoy abundant and convenient material comforts, but new problems also arise. You can find obese people everywhere you look. Obesity not only makes us look unattractive and feel embarrassed, but it also poses many unnoticed threats to our health.

Modern medical research suggests that obesity, aside from physiological or pathological factors, is primarily caused by excessive fat intake and insufficient physical activity, leading to excessive accumulation of adipose tissue and elevated blood fat levels. Obese individuals who consume excessive amounts of carbohydrates experience a more pronounced increase in plasma triglyceride levels, a longer postprandial plasma chylomicron clarification time, and elevated blood cholesterol levels. The levels of triglycerides and cholesterol in the blood are directly proportional to the degree of obesity. Obese individuals not only have higher total cholesterol levels but also higher levels of low-density lipoprotein (LDL) and lower levels of high-density lipoprotein (HDL) compared to those of normal weight, thus posing a greater threat to their health.

Avoid excessive smoking.

It is a well-known fact that smoking is harmful to health. Statistics show that more than half of the world's adult men and a quarter of its adult women smoke, and this number is increasing, making it a major concern for society as a whole.

Domestic and international medical experts unanimously agree that smoking poses a deadly threat to cardiovascular and cerebrovascular diseases. Analysis shows that the smoke from a single cigarette contains 40 mg of tar, 3 mg of nicotine, and 30 mg of carbon monoxide (CO). These vasoactive substances, in addition to directly stimulating the vasomotor center and increasing blood pressure by stimulating the release of adrenaline and noradrenaline, can also directly damage the vascular endothelium. Furthermore, nicotine's effects of increasing total cholesterol (TC) and decreasing high-density lipoprotein (HDL) in the blood make smokers more prone to hyperlipidemia and atherosclerosis, thus significantly increasing the incidence of coronary heart disease. Nicotine in cigarettes can also directly stimulate blood vessels, causing spasms, increasing platelet aggregation, and simultaneously raising blood pressure and accelerating heart rate, thereby inducing coronary heart disease, angina pectoris, and myocardial infarction. Numerous facts have proven this point.

Carbon monoxide from inhaled cigarette smoke quickly enters the bloodstream and readily combines with hemoglobin to form carboxyhemoglobin, rendering hemoglobin unable to carry oxygen. If the concentration of carboxyhemoglobin in the blood is too high, the blood oxygen concentration will significantly decrease, leading to insufficient tissue oxygen supply, arterial wall edema, intimal damage, and easier lipid infiltration into the blood vessel walls, thus promoting the formation of atherosclerosis. Smoking lowers serum high-density lipoprotein (HDL) levels, while the ratio of serum triglycerides and cholesterol to HDL is higher in smokers than in non-smokers, increasing the risk of coronary atherosclerosis.

Therefore, it is clear that smoking is extremely harmful to cardiovascular disease. To prevent and treat hyperlipidemia, atherosclerosis, and coronary heart disease, all smokers are urged to quit. The earlier one quits, the better the prevention and treatment of coronary heart disease.