Keep your cholesterol down
The spread manufacturer says the project is designed to lower their cholesterol levels in three weeks, kick-start a new phase of healthy living and reduce their risk of developing heart disease.
Sonia O’Sullivan is promoting the Flora pro.activ cholesterol challenge — ‘It Takes a Town’ — and says the project is not only great motivation to get healthy, but it will also help to bring the people of Cobh together.
“This campaign encourages a whole community to get together, have a look at their current cholesterol levels and use this indicator as a method to kick-start heir health and fitness,” she says.
“This is the perfect opportunity to check their cholesterol levels and if there are any concerns, to do something about it.”
The first step will always be the hardest but with practice you will improve.
“We can’t all be world champions but we can all be the best we can be. Better today than yesterday, better today and tomorrow,” says O’Sullivan.
The 44-year-old athlete watches her diet closely — “A good diet allows you to have a little bit of everything and enjoy treats” — but doesn’t take her healthy cholesterol level for granted.
“I had my cholesterol checked recently and my levels are perfectly fine [under 5] as the combination of a healthy diet and daily exercise help to maintain good levels,” she says. “But I’m aware that just because you look fit and healthy doesn’t ensure your cholesterol levels are good. Many years ago a very fit athlete told me she had to reduce her cholesterol levels, so it’s not always obvious from the outside.”
The Flora challenge — which ran a successful campaign in Australia last April where 84% of the 91 participants lowered their cholesterol by an average of 7% — was launched last month in the Commodore Hotel in the Cork town. The three-week initiative involves members of the community, nutritional experts and well-known faces like O’Sullivan and chef Martin Shanahan.
Throughout the 21-day-challenge, the TV chef has been showing the 80 locals who signed up for the programme how to make delicious, nutritious food, combining Flora pro.activ and fish.
“I have been showing people how to make really simple dishes involving fish – such as smoked mackerel paté and linguini with crab and garlic chilli,” says Shanahan.
“I’m looking forward to seeing the results of the challenge and if it is a success, the project may be rolled out across the country.”
Consultant nutritionist Dr Sinead O’Brien says diet is definitely linked cholesterol levels but in some cases it can be genetic.
“Eating too much saturated fat is a common cause of high cholesterol,” she says. “However, some people have high cholesterol even though they eat healthily. Some as a result of an underactive thyroid gland, long-term kidney problems, or having too much alcohol; others have high cholesterol because they have an inherited condition called familial hypercholesterolaemia.”
While eating a good diet is vital for keeping cholesterol levels down, O’Brien says it’s also important to eat foods rich in plant sterols.
“Plant sterol-enriched foods — found in everyday foods like fruits and vegetables, vegetable oils and nuts and grains — lower cholesterol levels in people following both typical and low-fat diets, and in people on lipid-lowering medications such as statins and fibrates as well as those with elevated blood cholesterol levels.”
O’Brien says everyone should have their cholesterol levels checked on a regular basis as any rise will not be immediately apparent.
“Cholesterol is of increasing concern as we age and for those who are overweight,” she warns. “However it is also referred to as a silent killer as there are not usually visual signs of high cholesterol. A person can appear outwardly healthy and still have raised cholesterol, so for that reason it is important to get your cholesterol checked and ensure that you stay at or below the magic number of 5.”
Cardiovascular disease is the most common cause of death in Ireland, accounting for 33% of all deaths. Approximately 10,000 people die each year from CVD.
¦ For more information visit www.facebook.com/FloraCholesterolClub
¦ Cholesterol is waxy and fat-like and occurs naturally in your body. It is vital to the workings of the cells throughout the body.
¦ Cholesterol naturally present in the diet (for example, in eggs and seafood) has little impact on cholesterol levels in the blood. Cholesterol in full-fat dairy products (butter, biscuits, meat products and pastry) can raise cholesterol.
¦ Too much cholesterol increases your risk of heart disease. A desirable cholesterol level is lower than 5.
¦ There are two types of cholesterol: high-density lipoprotein (HDL) and low-density lipoprotein (LDL). Lipoprotein is cholesterol combined with the proteins that carry it around your body.
¦ Low-density lipoprotein (LDL) takes cholesterol from the liver to the body tissues. If there is too much of this cholesterol in the blood, it can build up in the walls of the blood vessels and cause them to narrow. This is why LDL cholesterol is sometimes called ‘bad’ cholesterol.
¦ For a healthy heart, keep LDL cholesterol low.
¦ High-density lipoprotein (HDL) returns the extra cholesterol, which isn’t needed, from the bloodstream to the liver. HDL is a ‘good’ type of cholesterol, because it removes the LDL cholesterol from the bloodstream, rather than depositing it in the arteries.
¦ It’s well-established that having high levels of LDL (bad) cholesterol increases your risk of heart disease.
