New Books

So far I have not come across any new information about cholesterol, but I did finally receive my new books in the mail. One I mentioned in my last post is Cholesterol Protection for Life. I have not read much into it but my brother's synopsis was, "Eat as much fruits and vegetables as you like, have starch once a week and animal products once a month." I am not sure that I will go that far into this diet, but I will certainly be paying more attention to what I eat. I was surprised to hear that starch is one of the things I should not eat a lot of. I love starch, mashed potatoes, corn, rice, pasta, bring it on! Unfortunately starches cause a decrease in High Density Lipids which is the good cholesterol. Of course, endurance exercise uses mainly starches to fuel the body, so it is not surprising that endurance exercise increases HDL. Now I am not talking about hours and hours of exercise. I have read that 30 minutes of continuous exercise is sufficient to increase HDL, and for each 10 minutes longer per session there is a corresponding increase in HDL levels.

The other book I bought is Base Building for Cyclists. Since my HDL levels were not low and I tend to ride for at least 30 minutes at a time, I do not plan to cut back much on my starch intake.