I just read a Popsugar article that completely changed my perspective about fitness during quarantine.

Let me start with saying that as both a health and a fitness professional, I strive to keep people healthy – both mentally AND physically.

It’s ingrained in me to provide advice and education wherever I can.

Now that I have a fitness blog, I’m able to share my thoughts on the latest trends and give advice about current events. Anyone with any business sense will tell you to pay close attention to what your audience needs and tailor your content towards that.

So as the “Virus-That-Shall-Not-Be-Named” made its way into our media, our countries, and our lives, I did what any business-savvy, fitness-promoting person would do: I focused on providing home workouts and encouraging people to keep working towards their fitness goals. I gave out those expected quarantine fitness tips.

Now I see how unwise that was.

“I knew it was sugary, but 16 GRAMS OF SUGAR? In one serving??? I couldn’t believe it.”

The more I’ve learned about nutrition, the more appalled I’ve become with the food industry. Nowadays, people are much more health conscious than they used to be. Because of that, you’d think there’d be fewer harmful ingredients in processed foods, or even less processed foods overall.

But just walk into a grocery store and you’ll see that’s not the case. There are tons of processed foods out there. And despite researchers, doctors, and registered dietitians telling us to eat more whole, natural foods, we tend to keep buying these man-made products.

Why? Well that’s an easy one.

“If you make the appropriate changes, you can lower your cholesterol and your risk for these serious health problems.”

I think cholesterol is the epitome of changing healthcare recommendations over time. And how health guidelines can sometimes just be plain wrong. Seriously, this topic can be so confusing because of all the conflicting information out there.

So I’m here today to bring you the latest information on cholesterol from the most-trusted­ resources. What that means is this post is based on scientific research findings and is the best we have right now. That’s not to say the recommendations won’t change again. They very well could. But I’m going to share with you why these guidelines do absolutely make sense and what the medical field has found to be working.

Why is this topic important?

Because high cholesterol can severely worsen your health by increasing your chance of developing cardiovascular disease. The more plaque in your coronary (heart) arteries, the more likely you are to have a heart attack. And the more plaque in your arteries, especially your carotid arteries (the ones in your neck that supply blood to your brain), the more likely you are to have a stroke.