Mika Makimura writes:
Mr. and Mrs. Mine think their work is most important for them and work hard, so they tend to be not careful about their lifestyle, for example their meals, doing regular exercise etc. They usually skip breakfast because they have no time to eat. If there's time, they'll eat some fried food left over from the day before. At lunch they eat fat-rich foods, for instance, fried foods, meat and sweets. They eat fast foods for dinner. And they have no opportunity to do regular exercise.
Mr. Mine has low levels of HDL but his LDL level is 170. LDL is bad for health because it carries most of the cholesterol into the blood. HDL is good for health because it helps remove cholesterol from the blood. Foods that Mr M eats don't have the nutrition that a man needs to keep healthy. He should eat many kinds of nutrient-rich foods. At lunch he eats a hamburger or fried chicken or fried fish. They are fat-rich foods. His dinner is fast food, such as pizza, yakitori or Chinese noodles with eggs, pork and chicken. These foods contain too much fat and are high in calories. Fast foods contain trans fatty acid. High TFA is bad for health. And he doesn't eat enough fruits and vegetables, so he lacks vitamins and fiber. Much cholesterol causes heart disease and high blood pressure. He has already high blood pressure and occasionally experiences angina chest pains. He must eat more fruits and vegetables, and had better eat fish and skinless chicken and less fried meats to reduce intake of fat and fish contain polyunsaturated fatty acid. High polyunsaturated fatty acid is good for health. A low-fat diet that includes dairy products and lots of fruits and vegetables is more effective in lowering blood pressure than a diet rich in fruits and vegetables that is not low in fat and contained few dairy products. And he is a heavy smoker. Smoking increases the risk of heart disease, high blood pressure etc. so he must give up smoking.
Mrs. Mine has both high HDL and LDL levels; her LDL is 165. This means she has risks of heart disease. At lunch Mrs. Mine usually eats a bowl of rice with some meat (usually beef or pork) and sweet dessert, cake, cookies or ice cream. Beef and pork are fat-rich foods; therefore she should eat skinless chicken or fish if she wants to reduce intake of fat. And sweets are food of high caloric content as they contain much sugar. Her dinner is a combination of snack food and sandwiches -- she especially likes cheese or eggs and butter or margarine on her bread. Snack food also contains fat. Cheese contains saturated fats. Saturated fats raise the level of cholesterol. Butter and margarine are fat products, so those are high-cholesterol-foods. Egg contains many kinds of vitamins but it is one of the high-cholesterol-foods too. She also doesn't eat fruits and vegetables, and she takes too much fat. This is the reason why her LDL levels are high. Fat has been linked to an increased risk of developing breast cancer. She is 10 kilos overweight because she doesn't reduce her intake of fat and sugar, she often skips breakfast and she eats dinner late at night. She must reduce her intake of fat and food of high caloric content.
Both Mr. and Mrs. M must change their daily eating habits. They are young and can work hard now. But foods they usually eat contain too much fat, so this may result in some problems for their future health and they will not able to work satisfactorily. At first, they must eat three times a day. Skipping meals can lead to out-of-control hunger and cause overweight. Second, if they have no time, they had better eat daily dishes. At a supermarket or a daily-dishes shop, there are many kinds of daily dishes. They may choose many kinds of foods and they can take a well-balanced diet into consideration. Third, fried foods left over from the day before contain oxidized fat. Oil is oxidized over time. This is a cause of cancer, and therefore they had better not keep fried foods for long time. Finally, in the future, they'll have to be careful about intake of fat and food of high caloric content. They should count calories and do regular exercise. Too much fat and food of high caloric content cause overweight and can contribute to heart disease and arteriosclerosis.
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