I had a great breakthrough this week in the area of making the most of physical health. My endocrinologist for some time has wanted to put me on a statin to address my LDL cholesterol. My LDL was in a reasonable range for a normal (whatever that means) male my age. But I have Type 1 diabetes, so they treat all things heart-wise more aggressively. I don't need to write about the issues relating to heart disease and diabetes. Just the same, I did not want to do a statin for multiple reasons. The most important one was my desire to address the issue naturally. I have a great medical team that allows me to manage my health and they act as advisors. That helps a lot.
My LDL before last week's blood work was around 126, with a total number of 198. My current number is 102 and 186 respectively. Huge!
I will breakdown what I'm doing that has helped my cholesterol numbers and then some general stuff that is good to do overall.
Cholesterol
- Eating good fats from walnuts and almonds (serving size of a 1/4 cup each).
- 1-2 glasses of red wine (I pay attention to how the wine is crafted here. The longer the time for grape skins to be in contact with the juice, the better) per day. This book helped me a lot.
- I changed my workout routine about 5 months ago to high intensity interval training. I apply this in my running and strength training. This article explains the concept I use.
General
- Reduce the amount of refined sugar in my diet.
- Exercise every day.
- Find tools for stress relief
- Practice total life management. I've found this to be the key in finding balance and integration in life.
- Know God.
In the end, my body and mind is not your body and mind. I've only written about what has worked for me. Here's to your health.