“Cigarettes and alcohol will take 10 years off your life,” announced The Independent on the 18th of September.

The newspaper reported that for the first time doctors have quantified the effects of smoking, high blood pressure, and high cholesterol, described as “the three major killers of middle-aged men”. Failing to give up smoking or to control blood pressure and cholesterol were reported to reduce life expectancy by 10 to 15 years.

The Whitehall study that provided the data set for this new publication is a large cohort study that started in 1967. It provides over 30 years of follow-up data for cause-specific mortality in a large population of civil servants.

This study found that there has been a clear improvement in rates of cardiovascular deaths across the decades, and also an improvement in the control of high blood pressure and high cholesterol, in addition to a reduction in smoking rates.

However, despite this, those with the combined risk factors of smoking, high cholesterol and high blood pressure when aged 50 were found live an average of 10 years less than those without.

The study has only been conducted in a specific population of men but the findings concur with the numerous other health studies demonstrating the impact of smoking, blood pressure and cholesterol upon health and mortality. The study did not specifically assess alcohol use.

Where did the story come from?

This research was conducted by Robert Clarke and colleagues of University of Oxford, University College London Medical School and the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine.

What kind of scientific study was this?

The Whitehall study is a large cohort study collecting many types of data from workers in the civil service. It used data collected from 19,019 men aged between 40 and 69 years. Subjects were entered into the study from 1967 to 1970 and 99% of the subjects were followed up to 2005.

What were the results of the study?

The WHO data showed that between 1950 and 2005, standardised rates of UK mortality due to cardiovascular causes in middle-aged men were about twice of those for middle-aged women. However, for both men and women there has been an improvement in mortality rates over time, with a decline of about 2% a year from 1970 onwards.

At the start of the Whitehall study, 42% of the men currently smoked, 39% had high blood pressure, and 51% had high cholesterol. At a re-examination stage in 1997, 13% were current smokers and 58% were ex-smokers, with an average quitting age of 52 years). Only one-third of those smoking at study start were still smoking.

About a quarter of all deaths in the cohort occurred before the age of 70.

What interpretations did the researchers draw from these results?

The researchers conclude that, despite substantial changes in the risk factors of smoking, cholesterol and blood pressure over the 30 years, baseline differences in risk factors were associated with 10 to 15 year shorter life expectancy from age 50 onwards.

NHS findings

The findings concur with the numerous other health studies that demonstrate the impact that smoking, blood pressure and cholesterol can have upon health and mortality. While this will be unsurprising to most people, the study has strengths in providing an estimation of the size of this risk. As the authors conclude, continued public health strategies to lower these risk factors could result in further improvements in life expectancy.

If you have a high cholesterol, you can simply help to lower its level by eating and drinking some specific food :

A good start for breakfast :
1. Eat whole grains and oats – people whose diets contain the most whole grains “had the thinnest carotid artery walls and showed the slowest progression in artery wall thickness.”
2. Eat Blueberries – a compound in blueberries (pterostilbene) may help lower cholesterol as effectively as commercial drugs.

What you should eat at lunch/dinner:
3. Whatever you eat. Add extra virgin oil. Do a lot of salads !
Studies have shown that this type of olive oil increases the body’s levels of HDL cholesterol (good cholesterol), which helps to reduce plaque buildup in the arteries
4. You can choose to alternate with Flaxseed oil – flaxseed oil can lower blood pressure in men with high cholesterol. In a three-month study of 59 middle-aged men, those who took daily flaxseed oil supplements (with eight grams of the omega-3 fats, alpha-linoleic acid) experienced significantly lower systolic and diastolic blood pressure.
5. Eat avocados :26 of the 30 grams of fat in an avocado are heart-healthy, unsaturated fats that can increase your levels of HDL cholesterol
6. Eat olives : olives, and olive oil protect against heart disease and diabetes.
7.  Black soybeans – a study from the Journal of the Science of Food and Agriculture shows that black soybeans may help prevent obesity, lower LDL cholesterol, and reduce the risk for type 2 diabetes.
8.  Fish and Fish oil – a study from the Norwegian University of Science and Technology found that people with type 2 diabetes who consumed high doses of fish oil over nine weeks lowered the size and concentration of several lipoprotein subclasses (cholesterol) in their bodies.
9.  Salmon and omega-3 fats: Omega-3s, found in fatty fish, like salmon, sardines, and anchovies, and in fortified eggs and soybeans, reduce nearly every risk factor for heart disease. They reduce inflammation, reduce high blood pressure, decrease triglycerides, help to make blood thinner and less likely to clot, and raise HDL cholesterol. And recent research suggests that omega-3s may also keep your brain sharp and possibly ward off dementia.
10. Plant sterols and stenols:
These are natural substances found in small amounts in the cell membrane of plants, including fruits, vegetables, legumes, nuts, and seeds. You can get the recommended two grams per day by eating fortified foods such as margarine spread, orange juice, and salad dressings, but these should only be eaten by people with high levels of LDL cholesterol.

What you can munch on
11.Eat (almost any) nuts !
Almonds, hazelnuts, pecans, pine nuts, pistachios, and walnuts. They are all known to lower cholesterol.
However, do limit your daily intake to one and a half ounces (which is about one and a half handfuls), since nuts are high in calories.

Dessert
12. Yogurt with live active cultures (probiotics) – Vicki Koenig, MS, RD, CDN said “several studies have shown that the probiotics Lactobacillus Acidophilus and Lactobacillus Reuteri actually help lower cholesterol. They work by preventing the reabsorption of cholesterol back in to the blood stream.”

What you should drink
13. Pomegranate juice – a National Academy of Sciences study showed that pomegranate juice reduces cholesterol plaque buildup and increases nitric oxide production (nitric oxide helps reduce arterial plaque).
14. 100% cranberry-grape juice – antioxidants in grape juice slow down LDL cholesterol oxidation, and cranberry juice raises HDL or “good” cholesterol.

Other considerations
You might be a person who is predisposed to high cholesterol, or maybe your diet could use a shape-up. Here are a few key points on cholesterol that I try to focus on:
LDL or “bad” cholesterol deposits itself on the walls of your arteries, forming plaques that make them hard and narrow. HDL or “good” cholesterol removes excess LDL in your blood and brings it to your liver for disposal. The more HDL you consume, the less LDL you’ll have in your blood.

You may need medication to help reduce your cholesterol, but eating a heart-healthy diet and getting exercise are very important.
Everyone should have their cholesterol checked-it doesn’t matter if you are young/old, female/male, or thin/overweight.

US researchers proved [times and times again] that eating breakfast is the secret to staying healthy.

Dr Mark Pereira and colleagues at Harvard Medical School analyzed the eating habits of 1,198 black people and 1,633 white participants.

Their study found that people who eat whole-grain cereals every morning are among those most likely to see the health benefits.

Health benefits discovered

They found that people who ate breakfast every day were a third less likely to be obese compared to those who skipped the meal.

In addition, eating breakfast will make you half as likely to have blood-sugar problems, which increase the risk of developing diabetes or having high cholesterol, which is a known risk factor for heart disease.

Eating first thing in the morning will help to stabilize blood sugar levels, which regulate appetite and energy.

The study also suggests that eating breakfast makes you less hungry during the rest of the day and are, therefore, less likely to overeat.

UK evidence

The British Dietetic Association said the findings added to the growing body of evidence in support of eating breakfast every morning.

“There is a lot of scientific evidence behind this,” spokeswoman Catherine Collins told.

“Obviously the traditional fry-up is too fat and calorie rich to aid weight control, but cereals and toast are of benefit.

“Breakfast can be a very good source of vitamins. Many processed cereals are fortified with vitamins and minerals which people can find it difficult to get elsewhere if they are just having two meals a day.”