Cholesterol Down-- get the river flowing through your blood vessels!

You often hear about cholesterol and the importance of reducing cholesterol levels in your blood. How does is work? I turned to an expert and the information is amazing. Janet Bond Brill, author of Cholesterol Down (2006), my resource for this blog entry. I'm grabbing quotes for  pages 191-195 in her book. It gets a little technical-- but a bit of exposure to the science may increase your dedication to an exercise program. I'm trying to follow Dr. Brill's explanations-- and I present them in an abridged version below.

LDL, or low density lipoprotein, is the bad cholesterol. The LDL cholesterol lodges in "the inner lining of the artery walls and and contributes to plaque buildup and atherosclerosis." Walking, Janet Bond Brill explains, "boosts LDL resistance to oxidation," and this decreases the likelihood that LDL cholesterol will cause atherosclerosis of the arteries.

Heart disease seems mainly to refer to problems that occur in the blood vessels rather than the heart itself. That's been my conclusion, listening to stories from friends and family about cardio procedures most often involving the placement of stents in the blood vessels. I was glad to hear that brisk walking is possibly the best method for maintaining the health of your blood vessels.

5 Fun Facts from Janet Bond Brill, Ph.D.

1) Walking changes the size and shape of LDL (bad cholesterol) particles in your bloodstream, beneficially altering them so that they are less dangerous.

2) Finnish researchers studied 104 men and women on an exercise program (mostly walking) and noticed great results: LDL cholesterol dropped by an average of about 11 percent, but HDL, good cholesterol, increased and the antioxidant potential of LDL was strengthened by a huge 23 percent.

3) Where you store your fat accents your likelihood of developing not only heart disease but also diabetes and high blood pressure. Potbellies are bad. A small amount of belly fat is much worse than fat in other areas such as hips and thighs. Walking trims abdominal fat.

4) Some researchers think that exercise improves the body's ability to utilize insulin. This in turn increases the activity of LDL receptors on the liver, which enhances clearance of LDL from bloodstream, subsequently lowering LDL levels.

5) Imagine that the flow of blood through the arteries is like water flowing down a river. Brisk walking speeds up the flow of blood through the arteries, which reduces clogging and inflammation and there helps prevent the atherosclerotic process.

Oh, and one other thing, okay, make that #6

6) Bumping up the intensity of your workouts increases what is called "shear stress," a substantial increase in the speed of blood flowing through your blood vessels. This leads to increased production of nitric oxide in the cells lining the arteries. Nitric oxide promotes dilation of the vessels' interior diameters, which helps prevent clogging and lessens the chance of a heart attack.

Thank- you Dr. Janet Bond Brill!

Not All Uphill (benefits of walking the hills)

Fortunately, I live close to a hilly neighborhood in Austin, Texas. I've been walking those hills for several years now. The biggest problem in Austin is high temperatures. June heat arrives and you can forget walking the hills after sunrise. But the other 8-9 months usually provide great weather for walking and going up and down hills provides great advantages. I strive for about 2 1/2 miles on these walks and usually take 45-50 minutes to complete the workout. And it is a workout-- just read the comments from Greg Isaacs in his book 10,000 Steps a Day to Your Optimal Weight.

Walking hills is almost like a trip to the gym, but without the  bad music, stretchy workout garb, and puddles of sweat. Walking on an incline causes a resistance in your muscles of your legs, and to a lesser extent in your stomach and buttocks, much the same way that lifting weight does. If fact, you will actually build muscle and gain strength with repeated hill climbs. Naturally you also burn calories at a high rate, and your lungs and heart get a better cardiovascular workout. (p. 165)

Years ago I heard that walking uphill has different benefits from going downhill and Greg Isaacs explained the difference:

Incredibly, it is not just going up that provided this double-coupon of benefit. Walking downhill has its advantages as well. Doctors at the Voralberg Institute in Feldirch, Austria, examined two groups of people. One group walked up hills and took a tram to the bottom; the other took the tram up and walked down. The researchers were not expecting much from the downhill walking and were surprised to find that it significantly lowered blood sugar level, a risk factor for Type II adult-onset diabetes. Uphill walking lowered triglycerides-- fat in the blood, a risk factor for heart attacks-- but did not have the same sugar-lowering effect as downhill walking. Both groups experienced lowered cholesterol levels, the uphill group more than the downhill. Researchers concluded that the practice of downhill walking is a a good starting point for people who are new to exercise.

Take a look around your town, even if you don't live in the Swiss Alps, and find some hills. They may, or may not, be alive with music, but at least it won't be bad gym music. The health benefits will be music to your ears!