I'm 44, six feet tall and weigh 185 pounds. I've been physically active all my adult life. I watch what I eat (not squeaky clean, but I bet I'm close to 80%), do cardio 3x a week (2 mile run), and do resistance training 3x a week (compound lifts, medium-heavey weight). I've been doing this for my entire adult life and probably haven't gone longer than 2 weeks straight at a time away from the gym in the last 28 years.

Despite this lifestyle, I have high cholesterol, high LDL and low HDL. The family doctor says it's genetic (family history of high cholesterol, high blood pressure and cadriovascular disease) and wants to put me on Lipitor. I DON'T want to be on a statin, or anything else really. The thought of having to take a pill every day the rest of my life doesn't appeal to me, and I've also read some pretty bad stories about the side effects of stains. 

I don't think there's much more I can do in the exercise/diet department, so I did a bunch of research on supplements and found some recommendations. In the interest of all others who have high cholesterol despite a healthy lifestyle, I thought I'd post my progress and results here.

I had blood drawn today and will get my cholesterol results next Wednesday, which I will post. Those results will be the baseline. I'm going to start my supplement regimen tomorrow morning and run it for a month, then get my cholesterol tested again at the end of November. I'll try to keep a daily food log as well, and post my workouts and body weight.

Edit: I've decided to keep my cholesterol experiment seperate from the weight training blog. You can keep up with my attempts to lower cholesterol at http://nutribody.com/index.php

Artificial trans fats are one of the most prevalent poisons in our food supply;  but most don't know that healthy natural trans fats DO exist.

I'm going to talk about something today that most of you have probably never heard... that there is a distinction between good trans fats and bad trans fats. There is some evidence that the good trans fats can help you with fat loss, muscle building, and even cancer prevention, while the bad trans fats have been shown to cause heart disease, cancer, diabetes, and the general "blubbering" of your body.

I'm sure most of you have heard all of the ruckus in the news over the last few years about just how bad man-made trans fats are for your health. If you've been a reader of my newsletter and my Truth about Six Pack Abs e-book program, then you definitely know my opinion that these substances are some of the most evil food additives of all and are found in the vast majority of all processed foods and fast foods on the market today.

In my opinion, man-made trans fats are right up there with smoking in terms of their degree of danger to your health. After all, they are one of THE MAIN factors for the explosion of heart disease since approximately the 1950's.

With all of the talk about trans fats in the news these days, I wanted to clarify some things, particularly regarding bad trans fats vs. good trans fats. If you've never heard of good trans fats before, let me explain in a bit.

The Bad Trans Fats

First, the bad trans fats I'm referring to are the man-made kind. These are represented by any artificially hydrogenated oils. The main culprits are margarine, shortening, and partially hydrogenated oils that are in most processed foods, junk foods, and deep fried foods.

These hydrogenated oils are highly processed using harsh chemical solvents like hexane (a component of gasoline), high heat, pressure, have a metal catalyst added, and are then deodorized and bleached. A small % of the solvent is allowed to remain in the finished oil. This has now become more of an industrial oil rather than a food oil, but somehow the FDA still allows the food manufacturers to put this crap in our food at huge quantities, even with the well documented health dangers.

These hydrogenated oils cause inflammation inside of your body, which signals the deposition of cholesterol as a healing agent on artery walls. Hence, hydrogenated oil = inflammation = clogged arteries. You can see why heart disease has exploded since this crap has been loaded into our food supply over the last 5 to 6 decades.

As time goes on, and science continues to unveil how deadly these oils really are, I feel that eventually they will be illegal and banned from use. The labeling laws were just the first step. In fact, certain countries around the world have already banned the use of hydrogenated oils in food manufacturing or at least set dates to phase them out for good.

However, keep in mind that as companies are starting to phase out the use of hydrogenated oils in processed foods, they are replacing them, in most instances, with highly refined polyunsaturated oils such as soybean oil, cottonseed oil, corn oil, etc, etc. These are still heavily processed oils using high heat, solvents, deodorizers, and bleaching agents. Even refined oils are known to produce inflammation in your body...a far cry from natural sources of healthy fats.

Don't be fooled by the new onslaught of foods claiming "trans fat free"... if they use heavily refined oils (even if they're non-hydrogenated), it's still pure evil for your body! 

Once again, for the best results, your best bet is avoiding highly processed foods altogether and choose whole, natural, minimally processed foods. Your body will thank you!

The Good Trans Fats

Ok, after having trash talked the man-made trans fats, let me clearly state that there is such a thing as healthy natural trans fats. Natural trans fats are created in the stomachs of ruminant animals such as cattle, sheep, goats, etc. and make their way into the fat stores of the animals.

Therefore, the milk fat and the fat within the meat of these animals can provide natural healthy trans fats (best in grass-fed organic versions only).

Natural trans fats in your diet have been thought to have some potential benefit to aid in both muscle building and fat loss efforts. However, keep in mind that the quantity of healthy trans fats in the meat and dairy of ruminant animals is greatly reduced by mass-production methods of farming and their grain and soy heavy diets. Meat and dairy from grass-fed, free-range animals always have much higher quantities of these beneficial fats.

One such natural trans fat that you may have heard of is called conjugated linoleic acid (CLA) and has been marketed by many weight loss companies. Keep in mind that these man-made CLA pills you see in the stores may not be the best way to get CLA in your diet. They are artificially made from plant oils, instead of the natural process that happens in ruminant animals. Once again, man-made just doesn't compare to the benefits of natural sources.

Here's a great site I found that I use to order all of my healthy grass-fed beef and other free range meats.  The service is impeccable and they deliver right to your doorstep in a sealed cooler. It's worth it to know that you and your family are actually eating meat that's good for you instead of the normal grocery store junk.

Now that all of your labels should be listing grams of trans fat, keep in mind that if a quantity of trans fat is listed on a meat or dairy product, it is most likely the natural good trans fats that we've discussed here (*I only recommend grass-fed meat or dairy). Otherwise, if the quantity of trans fat is listed on any processed foods, it is most likely the dangerous unhealthy crap from artificially hydrogenated oils, so stay away! 

One more important note about food labels and trans fat listings... keep in mind that food manufacturers are allowed to label a food "trans fat free" if 1 serving size contains less than 0.5 grams of trans fat.  So you may see some products with hydrogenated oils as one of their main ingredients, but if they make the serving size small enough so that it contains less than 0.5 grams of trans fat per serving, they can label it as trans fat free... now that's BS!  just another example of our broken system!

I hope you've enjoyed this interesting look at good trans vs. bad trans fats and use the info to arm yourself with more healthful food choices for a better body. 

Fruits, berries, vegetables, grains, nuts, even popcorn... these are among the foods that offer you a way to include fiber in your diet, an all-important component of healthy eating.

There has yet to be an official guideline as to how much fiber should be included in the daily diet. Nutrition experts have known for a long time that fiber has significant health benefits:

• Fiber makes you feel full longer and can promote weight control by diminishing the appetite
• Fiber helps food and waste move through the digestive system
• Some forms of fiber can carry excess cholesterol out of the digestive system so it is eliminated rather than absorbed
• Fiber helps the body regulate the level of blood glucose (blood sugar), especially important for diabetics

The recommended daily Adequate Intake (AI) levels for fiber:

• Men over 50: 30 grams
• Women over 50: 21 grams
• Men under 50: 38 grams
• Women under 50: 25

Using these guidelines, less that 5-percent of adults in the United States eat enough fiber. In one government study, the average daily intake of dietary fiber for all individuals was 15.2 grams, well below recommended levels.

Definition of Fiber

To help consumers understand the different types of fiber and their benefits, the Food and Nutrition Board has proposed special terms for fiber in food:

Total Fiber:
The combination of dietary fiber and functional fiber.

Dietary fiber
The non-digestible component of carbohydrates naturally found in plant food. This fiber carries food through the digestive system and can help give you the feeling of fullness.

Functional fibers:
Non-digestible fibers that act like dietary fiber, but can come from either natural or synthetic sources and are usually added. One example of a natural source of functional fiber is pectin, used in jams and jellies and extracted from citrus peel. An example of a synthetic fiber that can be added to food products is fructooligosaccharides (FOS).

Functional fibers have many health benefits. Some, like those found in oatmeal, pectin and gums, delay the passage of food from the stomach into the small intestine. This results in increased feelings of fullness. These fibers can reduce the rise in blood glucose levels after eating. They can also combine with cholesterol and dietary fat to help carry these substances out of the body, which can lower blood cholesterol levels.

Fiber Intake

It's fairly easy to increase your fiber intake. Increase your fiber gradually over several weeks so your body has time to get used to the change. Make sure you drink enough non-caffeinated fluids as well.

Easy Ways to Put More Fiber in Your Diet:

• Wheat or bran cereals instead of processed, sugary cereals
• Dried fruit mixes (raisins, apricots) instead of candy or sugary snacks
• 100-percent whole wheat bread instead of white bread
• Brown rice instead of instant or polished rice
• Fresh fruit instead of fruit juices
• Popcorn and nuts instead of potato chips and pretzels
• Non-peeled fruits instead of peeled fruits (eat the skin!)