9A
LIFESTYLES / The Charlotte Post
Thursday, January 2,1997
HEALTHY BODY/HEALTHY MIND
Myths about cholesterol revealed
By Vince and Yolanda
SPECIAL TO THE POST
A high cholesterol level is
one of the main factors that
contributes to heart attacks,
strokes and other circulation
problems.
Cholesterol is a yellowish,
waxy material. It's found in
every cell in your body and it
is essential for your cells to
function properly. Your body
produces all the cholesterol it
needs. When you consume too
much saturated fat, your cho
lesterol level increases.
Excess cholesterol in your
diet is eventually deposited in
the inner walls of your arter
ies. As you get older, scar tis
sue and other materials build
up over the cholesterol caus
ing the arteries to narrow.
This is called atherosclerosis.
When the arteries leading to
the heart narrow, blood flow
becomes restricted which can
lead to a heart attack. When
the arteries leading to the
brain narrow, you can have a
stroke. More than 40 million
Americans have high choles
terol levels.
Cholesterol Free
Diet is the single most
importsmt factor to help lower
your cholesterol level.
Cholesterol is found in meats,
dairy products and some veg
etable oils high in saturated
fat.
Foods labeled “no
Cholesterol” or “Low
Cholesterol” aren’t necessarily
healthy, and may still be
loaded with saturated fat.
Saturated fat has more affect
on your blood cholesterol than
the amount of cholesterol you
take in. Read labels and limit
your saturated fat intake to
14 grams daily. Cholesterol
and saturated fat are found in
both the lean and the fatty
parts of meats. By removing
the fat and skin from meats
you get rid of most of the satu
rated fat, some cholesterol
and you cut calories.
However, meat stiU contains
saturated fat even after
removing the fat or skin.
Saturated fat tends to boost
your blood cholesterol levels
even more than eating foods
containing high levels of cho
lesterol. That’s why you
should trim the fat and eat
only moderate amounts of
meat. Other ways to lower
your cholesterol include not
smoking, loosing excess
weight and getting involved in
a regular exercise program. If
you lower your cholesterol
level two percent, you lower
yoior risk of a heart attack by
30 percent.. If you want more
information on cholesterol see
your doctor. While you're
there have your blood choles
terol level checked.
Cholesterol Levels
How’s your cholesterol? Fine
you say, under 200. That
number is only half the infor
mation needed to insure good
health. 'When the doctor gives
you your total cholesterol
level, you should also be given
your HDL and your LDL lev
els. In a study published in
the American Journal of
Cardiology researchers found
that 64 percent of men with
cholesterol levels under 200
still had coronary heart prob
lems. The study also found
that these men had higher
than normal levels of LDLs
and lower than normal HDL
levels.
A high cholesterol level or a
high level of LDLs and/or a
low level HDLs can be main
factors contributing to heart
attacks, strokes and other cir
culation problems. So get your
LDL and HDL levels mea
sured when checking yout
cholesterol levels.
Cholesterol Testing
Cholesterol screening is very
important, but there are a few
things that can affect the
accuracy of your test.
Your position before you
take your test will affect your
levels. You should sit down
before you take your test.
Prolonged standing prior to
the test can elevate total cho
lesterol levels an average of 10
percent. You should be seated
at least five to 15 minutes
before having your blood
drawn.
Don't do strenuous exercise
for 24 hours because exercise
will elevate your HDLs. This
will cause an artificially ele
vated HDL level in your test
results. Alcoholic beverages
will elevate HDL, cholesterol
and triglycerides thus giving
you inaccurate test results. To
be safe you should not drink
alcoholic beverages 24 hours
prior to your taking your test.
You don’t have to fast before
you take your test and you
don’t want to change your
diet.
The deadline for Around
Charlotte is Monday
at 5 p.m.
Pldase fax items to (704)
342-2160.
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Homeless find aid, support
Continued from page 8A
out on the street.
The people at the Salvation
Army’s Project Home told him
to try Hildebrandt.
John left home the day before
after another run-in with his
hard-drinking stepfather.
He spent the night walking
the streets of Neenah and
Menasha and taking coffee
breaks at gas stations.
Tonight his legs are sore and
he is tired.
He needs to sleep so he can
function at a job interview
tomorrow.
Hildebrandt gives him coffee,
a bed and promises to wake him
up early so he can start hunting
down a job.
John is grateful.
“If there wasn’t something like
this. I’d probably stiU be walk
ing,” he says.
Hildebrandt has been driving
his “Hospitality on Wheels”
since Nov. 1.
However, he is able to go out
only on his nights off from his
job.
In anticipation, he drops off
fliers with his mobile phone
number at the local spots he
thinks the homeless might fre
quent.
He hands his card to agencies
that might refer someone.
“I don’t really know where to
go yet, Fm kind of learning,” he
says.
“I just keep poking around.”
For Hildebrandt, this is a min-
istiy.
“I guess I feel Fm here because
God wants me to be,”'he says.
“Fve been so preoccupied that
I should do something for these
people.”
Hildebrandt worries about the
chronically homeless people
who, sometimes because of alco-
hohsm or mental illness, don’t
fit in at the Emergency Shelters
fadhty and who cannot get into
local halfway houses.
Hildebrandt, who ran 'Villa
Phoenix, a halfway house for
the mentally ill, for 13 years,
knows them well.
A number of them used to stop
by to visit, take a shower or bor
row a few bucks, and he hoped
one day to work with them.
After leaving ViUa Phoenix he
obtained his nursing degree,
hoping he could combine the
two interests.
His original intent was to set
up a facility that would be a
“non-judgmental place” for peo
ple to stay.
Hildebrandt looked at several
buildings but ran into obstacles
in zoning and neighborhood
opposition.
“Appleton is quite conserva
tive,” he says.
He beheves someone should be
out on the streets to see the
homeless situation firsthand, so
he decided to take a home to the
homeless via “Hospitality on
Wheels.”
In October, he bought a used
recreational vehicle and stocked
it in part with a $1,000 donation
he received fhjm an anonymous
donor.
It has started slowly, with
about a dozen visitors.
A young man with car trouble
found him in the Salvation
Army parking lot.
The man had been on his way
to pick up a paycheck from his
temporary job when he broke
down.
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^ Care AND Compassion
Comes Together”
Kids wares rack billions
By Sarah Nordgren
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
CHICAGO - Mike Triolo can
spot them coming. Sometimes
he ducks. More often, he just
sighs and reaches for his wal
let.
“Fm always the target, the
victim, the buyer,” says Triolo,
a Nabisco Biscuit Co. manager
who says he’s being asked by
more and more co-workers to
help their children’s fund-rais
ing efforts by bujdng cookies,
popcorn, wrapping paper,
even wild birdseed.
Where once girls and boys
went door-to-door, ringing
doorbells and shyly asking
neighbors if they cared to buy,
adults now rush their col
leagues, order forms in hand,
in what has become a billion-
dollar business.
“I don’t mind buying the raf
fle tickets or a cancer benefit -
and the $1.50 candy bars don't
bother me,” Triolo says. “But
when someone comes around
and the cheapest thing on
their list is $8 or $10, that
bugs me.”
Triolo, 23 and childless, is
not the only one who finds the
whole trend troublesome.
Many carrying the order
forms are themselves reluc
tant hucksters, selling only to
other parents.
“I really just pass it to the
people Fm friendly with - peo
ple who have children, too,”
says Laurel Wintersteen, a
clerical worker at State Farm
Insurance Co.
For parents faced with little
free time and fears of letting
their children go to strangers’
homes unsupervised, the
house call by a Girl Scout
pitching cookies many not be
extinct, but it’s on the endan
gered list.
Thousands of organizations
across the country, from
schools to Scouts to sports
teams, sell $4.5 billion worth
of goods a year, according to
the Association of Fund
Raisers and Directors, which
tracks fund-raising compa
nies.
For some groups, the money
buys extras - such as camping
trips. But often it’s for essen
tials, such as textbooks and
even teachers’ salaries, says
Russell Lemieux, the associa
tion’s executive director.
“About 75 percent of the dol
lars £u-e being raised by school
organizations,” Lemieux says.
“I can confirm that parents
are becoming more involved
over time.”
Which means children are
becoming less involved, and
that troubles Lemieux.
“There’s a definite educa
tional value kids gain in going
out and selling,” he says.
“They gain in understanding
the value of money and
increasing interpersonal
skiUs.”
Having parents sell for their
children goes against the goal
of the fund-raising efforts,
says Marianne Haw, spokes
woman for the Girl Scouts of
the USA.
“We do encourage parents to
support and participate, but
the purpose of the sales is for
girls to go out and learn,” Haw
says.
Chicago Scout leader Cindy
Flayton says some girls can
vass the high-rise buildings
they live in, but many parents
are hesitant.
“It’s not like when I was a
girl,” she says. “You have to
make compromises. My hus
band posts the list at work.”
But Flajrton still insists that
her daughter deliver the cook
ies, in full Scout uniform, and
say “thank you” to every
buyer.
Triolo says he sold door-to-
door in high school to raise
money, and today would wel
come a sales pitch from a
child, since he can’t always
dodge parents.
“One woman selling for her
nephew - not even her kid,
her nephew - sold $850 worth
of stuff,” he says. “I ducked
her, but sometimes Fm not so
lucky.”
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