Free Small Business Marketing, Advertising Ideas, Tips And Tricks

1. Know Who Your Customers Are:

a. Describe the person most likely to want or need your product.

b. Why should they want to buy your product?

c. When you know the motivation, you can target the product to the correct customer base.

d. You can't sell a product until it is defined and positioned.

Note: A pharmaceutical company shelved a cold medicine because they couldn't correct the drowsiness it produced. Someone renamed it NyQuil and sold it as a bedtime cold medicine. It became the largest selling cold medicine on the market. Just because your product is good doesn't mean it will sell. It must be positioned correctly. That's what marketing does.

2. Promote With Postcards:

a. The U.S. Postal Service is proposing slight increases for mailing letters and postcards—but leaving first-class "Forever" stamps at their present 49 cents.

Under a filing with the Postal Regulatory Commission, letters to international destinations would rise from $1.15 to $1.20. Postcards would rise from 34 cents to 35 cents.

The increases being proposed if passed would become effective on April 26,2015.

b. Postcards convey a sense of urgency to the customer. They may not read your letter but they will turn your postcard over. (You have 3 seconds to get your message across. The average time people look at an ad.)

c. Postcards will keep your mailing list clean (Address Correction Requested), First class returned and corrected free of charge by the Post Office. (Bulk Mail letter corrections will have additional charges. Check with the Post Office).

d. With a postcard, your message is out in the open. Other potential customers will see it too, not just the person it's addressed to.

3. Create A Survey:

a. Mail a survey to customers to find what motivates them to buy.

b. Where do they work? What magazines do they read? Age Group?

c. This information will tell you where and how to reach your targets.

d. Offer a gift or discount for completing the survey.

4. Use A Two-Step Approach:

a. Offer complimentary business related information to potential customers.

Step 1: Offer a free "fact sheet" to customers that shows your expertise.

Step 2: Add these customers to your mailing list and mail to them often.

5. Say "Happy Birthday":

a. Mail greeting cards to your customers (dates from your survey #3).

b. Include a coupon or special offer or tell them about your product that they should give themselves as a gift.

6. Team Up With Another Business:

a. Share advertising costs with another company.

b. Sharing costs makes high-quality printing and larger ads affordable.

c. Can your product be teamed with another product? (Motor Oil packaged with your new funnel invention.)

7. Be Consistent And Committed:

a. Research shows a message must be repeated to be remembered.

b. Send multiple mailers to the same people.

c. If you advertise, do it where you can afford to do it often.

8. Use The Telephone:

a. Test a new idea by phone before you commit to costly promotions.

b. Response from 100 phone calls will be similar to 1,000 pieces of mail.

c. You'll receive faster results, it costs less, and you'll generate greater input and feedback.

9. Raise Your Prices:

a. Has your competition raised their prices? Maybe you should too.

b. Higher prices separate you from the crowd, and implies your product is better, an deserves a premium price. BMW does not compete with Yugos.

c. Be careful in this area. The customer must see the value of the higher price.

10. Promote Trends or Current Events:

a. Can you tie your product or service to the environment, Olympics, World Series?

b. Gain valuable credibility and interest by association with known groups.

11. Add Personality To Your Business:

a. Use photos of you and/or your staff in your promotional materials.

b. A quote from the person pictured conveys friendliness and builds confidence in your company.

c. Responses to seminars and programs are dramatically higher when photos are used.

12. Use Deadlines:

a. Make sure you put a time limit on promotional materials.

b. Watch your expiration dates. (What day does your offer end?

Are you losing an extra weekend of business?)

For More See: Understanding Why Customers Buy

13. Fear Of Not Having Your Product:

a. For products that increase personal security, personal safety or health, fear can be an effective business-boosting tool.

b. If they don't buy your product now, they will miss something. A discount, premium free gift, etc. Fear of loss is more powerful than expectation of gain.

14. Use The Media:

a. Send letters covering topics related to your business to local publications.

b. Connect your product or business to some current event that is making news.

c. Your name and business name will probably be used if your letter is printed.

d. You will be perceived as an expert in your field.

e. You are holding this information because of an Internet site or a local or national promotion.

15. Make Advertising Last:

a. Buy ads that last months, not minutes. 

b. Magnetic signs for car or van. Don't forget the back of your vehicle. Put signs on truck tailgates and rear windows. Most customers don't drive alongside your vehicle and copy down the phone or address. They are more apt to do it at a stop sign.

c. Use clever bumper stickers or T-shirts.

d. If you're printing an expensive color piece, ask the printer to quote the price of his house paper.

e. Design the outside of the brochure to be permanent and the inside for future changes. That way you can print up large quantities (5,000 or more) of the outside only and have the printer keep them on hand. Then as your message changes you only have to print the inside.

f. You will save by doing a large run in the beginning. You will also save by only printing what you need as your company changes. Avoid outdated brochures.

16. Examine Promotional Materials:

a. Make sure business cards, letterheads, brochures and packaging materials are first class. This is not the area to spare expenses.

b. What types of materials is your competition using?

c. If you can't afford 4 color brochures use 2 or 3 color. Use of color increases response by 26%.

d. If you can't afford 2 color... use screens. (See Below)

Note: Screen is another word for shade (darker) or tint (lighter). For example: A florist wants red flowers around the borders of his brochure and black ink for the text. That's two colors. Pink is a 50% tint of red, it is not another color. You can have some pink flowers and some red flowers with little or no additional cost depending on how your printer handles screens. This process will give the appearance of three colors; red, pink, and black. Use gray (a tint of black) and presto, a 4 color brochure (red, pink, gray and black) for a 2 Color price. It looks expensive but isn't.

Source :http://www.smalltownmarketing.com

Tips for Healthy, Safe Online Dating

Dating has changed dramatically over the past few decades. It's gone from meeting prospective mates through family and friends to heading out to a bar or other gathering to visiting an online dating site. A report from the online dating industry estimates that nearly 25 million people worldwide accessed dating sites in April 2015.

This dramatic shift raises many questions. Is online dating a good way to meet a partner? Is it more effective than the old-fashioned ways? Is it safe and healthy? How do you know that the individuals you talk to are really who they say they are? Are there other risks or downsides?

While online dating clearly allows you more access to potential dating partners and lets you get an initial sense of someone before deciding to meet face to face, it has some drawbacks.

Reducing a person to a two-dimensional profile isn't the same as actually meeting someone, and the large number of partner descriptions could lead you to objectify potential partners and possibly make you reluctant to commit to just one. And if you communicate online for a long time before meeting someone, you may have skewed expectations, according to an analysis of online dating in the journal Psychological Science in the Public Interest.

The mathematical algorithms used by dating sites cannot know how you and a potential partner will grow and mature over time or even how you will interact in the short-term. In other words, they are no more guaranteed to succeed than any other method of dating.

Still, they remain hugely popular in our busy world. If you decide to try online dating, here are a few tips for safe, healthy online dating.

Don't reveal contact information:

When you're creating an online dating profile, be cautious about what information you disclose. Keep things pretty general and avoid personal contact details at all costs. Make sure you use a reputable site that allows you to keep private such details as your full name, phone number, address or personal email. Don't reveal info on your dating profile that would allow someone to search for your social media accounts and stalk you through those.

Be wary of red flags:

There are a few red flags you should be on the lookout for when you're hearing from people. Try to avoid people who try to jump immediately into communication outside of the dating site, say they're from the United States but are currently abroad, ask you for money, ask for your address under the guise of sending you gifts, make blatant and frequent grammar or spelling mistakes or send you links to third-party sites. If you notice any of these, block and report the person.

Check it out:

Ask questions—and then ask them again in a different way. See if you get the same answers, even to simple questions like where someone grew up or where they work. It may not be as easy to gauge honesty online as it is in person, so be curious and pay attention. You can also check out someone with an online search, but don't get a false sense of security if you don’t turn up a criminal record. You should always proceed with some caution, whether in an online or in-person setting.

Plan a safe first date:

After getting to know someone online, you might want to meet in person. There are a few rules you should always stick to for first dates. First, plan to meet up in a public place; never agree to go to someone's house or invite someone to yours. Next, tell a friend or family member where you're going, as well as any details you have about your date, like a phone number or name. When you're arranging transportation, get there and leave by your own means—don't let the other person pick you up. This will allow you to leave whenever you want, for example, if you're not having a good time or feel uncomfortable. Finally, be smart about alcohol. It's OK to have a drink, but don't go overboard. This will help you keep your wits about you.

Do what feels right:

Use your instincts to help you decide if and when you want to take your relationship to the next level. If you feel comfortable and have given the relationship some time to develop, there's no reason to feel wary about a relationship that began online—many people find love this way!

Source:http://www.healthywomen.org

9 Tips For Growing A Successful Business

To succeed in business today, you need to be flexible and have good planning and organizational skills. Many people start a business thinking that they'll turn on their computers or open their doors and start making money - only to find that making money in a business is much more difficult than they thought. You can avoid this in your business ventures by taking your time and planning out all the necessary steps you need to reach to achieve success. Read on to find out how.

1. Get Organized

To be successful in business you need to be organized. Organization will help you complete tasks and stay on top of things to be done. A good way to do this is to create a to-do list each day - as you complete each item, check it off your list. This will ensure that you're not forgetting anything and you're completing all the tasks that are essential to the survival of your business.

2. Keep Detailed Records

All successful businesses keep detailed records. By keeping detailed records, you'll know where the business stands financially and what potential challenges you could be facing. Just knowing this gives you time to create strategies to overcome the obstacles that can prevent you from being successful and growing your business.

3. Analyze Your Competition

Competition breeds the best results. To be successful, you can't be afraid to study and learn from your competitors. After all, they may be doing something right that you can implement in your business to make more money.

4. Understand the Risks and Rewards

The key to being successful is taking calculated risks to help your business grow. A good question to ask is "What's the downside?" If you can answer this question, then you know what the worst-case scenario is. This knowledge will allow you to take the kinds of calculated risks that can generate tremendous rewards for your business.

5. Be Creative

Always be looking for ways to improve your business and to make it stand out from the competition. Recognize that you don't know everything and be open to new ideas and new approaches to your business.

6. Stay Focused

The old saying that "Rome was not built in a day" applies here. Just because you open a business doesn't mean that you're going to immediately start making money. It takes time to let people know who you are, so stay focused on achieving your short-term goals and give the rest time to come together on its own.

7. Prepare to Make Sacrifices

The lead-up to starting a business is hard work, but after you open your doors, your work has just begun. In many cases, you have to put in more time than you would if you were working for someone else. In turn, you have to make sacrifices, such as spending less time with family and friends in order to be successful.

8. Provide Great Service

There are many successful businesses that forget that providing great customer service is important. If you provide better service for your customers, they'll be more inclined to come to you the next time they need something instead of going to your competition.

9. Be Consistent

Consistency is key component to making money in business. You have to consistently keep doing the things necessary to be successful day in and day out. This will create long-term positive habits that will help you make money over the long term.

Conclusion

Starting and running a successful business can be rewarding and challenging. Success requires focus, discipline and perseverance. However, success will not come over night - it requires a long-term focus and that you remain consistent in challenging environments.

Sourcr :http://www.investopedia.com/

Five Tips for Healthier Nails

Whether long or short, how to get healthy nails is something every woman is longing for. Take a close look at your fingernails and reconsider the way you treat them. Keep your nails strong by following those five tips for healthier nails.

1. Watch out on your nails:

Your nails, just like your hair and skin, reflect a lot about your general health. If you nails are weak,crack easily or don't grow properly then there's a good chance you need to improve your diet. If you want a way to keep your nails healthy and strong nails, you need to include vitamin B, iron and zinc in your diet. More veggies and fish are always the key to make your nails stronger. 

2. Give your nails a break:

I know, I know. Naked nails are sad nails! I personally love keeping my nails painted all the time. Yet, sometimes you need to give it a break in order to have healthy nails. Slightly dark nails or yellow nails are a result of overusing nail polish and nail polish removers. Instead, apply transparent strengthening serum or gel. Four days in between every mani-pedi sounds reasonable. 

3. Apply nail oil :

Wondering how to get healthy looking nails? Nail and cuticle oil is an excellent way to keep your nail soft, moisturised and strong. Most of nail oils are made of natural components like flax seed oil that prevent chipping and splitting. Wait, they can also keep your nails super shiny when you're not wearing nail polish! 

4. File your nails properly:

How do you file your nails? Back and forth? If yes, then you're in real trouble. Filling your nails back and forth is an everyday faux pas when it comes to treating your nails as it will weaken them more and more. It's never too late though.Train yourself to file your nails in only one direction and you will get to have healthier nails. This way your will nails will be less prone to breakage. 

5. Wear dish gloves:

Subjecting your hands to direct hot and soapy water for a long time will leave your nails at risk. You will probably recognise it yourself when you expose it to soapy water for a long time as they crack immediately afterwards. Make sure to wear dish gloves right before you wash the dishes for extra protection because this will keep your nails healthy.

You'll find everything you need to know to make your nails look pretty in our Nails section here.

Source:http://www.fustany.com 

10 Simple Marketing Tips for Small Businesses

As a small business, you may think it's impossible to get the word out about what you do. That's no excuse. And you don't need fads or gimmicks. Follow the proven, timeless tips and techniques of these entrepreneurs to help get the word out about your business and watch it grow.

1. Give Your Stuff Away

Ari Fleischer and Aly Moler of Frozen Pints have grown their craft beer ice cream business by leaps and bounds by attending craft beer shows and farmers markets to do one thing--give their product away. Once customers taste this unexpected combination (which happens to be delicious) for free, they line up at their local store to buy it or even request that the store carry it.

2. Attend Networking Events

Desiree Scales of Bella Web Design is a master networker.  She attends and presents at almost every event in town. Her contribution to the overall community makes her one of the first people that come to mind when anyone looks for an expert in her area of concentration: small business websites and drip marketing.

3. ...Or, Create Your Own Event

If you don't like the events you are attending, invent your own! Darrah Brustein has created one of the most successful networking events in Atlanta: Atlanta Under 40. The event, which Darrah created to connect with other young entrepreneurs in her city, is now being franchised to other cities.

4. Volunteer to Lead an Organization

The secret to getting the most out of a group or organization is not just to attend but to lead. Take Lisa Calhoun of Write2Market. She served as the president ofEntrepreneurs' Organization, allowing her to rub elbows and connect with the brightest minds of the fastest growing companies in the Atlanta market.

5. Start a Podcast

Todd Schnick of Dreamland Interactive is the first person I saw create his own podcast--he interviews other business owners.  People love to tell their story, and by highlighting them on a podcast you make an instant and meaningful connection. It's also a great way to get an education on a topic you are interested in.

6. Be Helpful

Most small business owners struggle to get their finances in line, especially when they move from an Excel spreadsheet to something as sophisticated as QuickBooks. Cathy Iconis of Iconis Group hosts a Quickbook Chat on Twitter every Thursday night at 7:00 EST to answer small business owners' questions--and potentially find some clients.

7. Send a Weekly E-mail

If you want to stay in relationship with your customers, there is nothing simpler than creating a weekly e-mail that provides something of value. Rick Houcek of Soar With Eagles sends one out every Monday that he calls the 2-Minute Monday Motivator. I look forward to getting it every week and often forward his advice to others.

8. Support a Cause

Mary Hester of LAN Systems throws an annual cookout with purpose every Earth Day. Party-goers are encouraged to bring their "e-waste"--old computer monitors and CPUs. At their most recent event they collected more than two tons of IT equipment, keeping it out of the landfills and creating goodwill with their customers, current and potential.

9. Sponsor an Organization

Many local organizations are not that expensive to sponsor for a year if you consider the  so-called per meeting cost. If your product or service is a good fit with their audience, you will get exposure every time the organization sends out an e-mail and a mention every time they meet. Attendees always remember and appreciate companies who sponsor their favorite organizations.

10. Create a Cool Giveaway

When thinking through what your company will  give away make sure it's somethingthey won't want to throw away or easily lose in their desk or bag (think pen).

Source:http://www.inc.com

Cholesterol and lipids

Cholesterol is one of a large and important class of biological molecules called lipids, which is scientific jargon for fats.

Apart from cholesterol, there are several other biologically important lipids in the body: fatty acids and their derivatives, triglycerides and phospholipids. 

Cholesterol and triglycerides are transported in the bloodstream as lipoproteins. LDL and HDL are varieties of lipoproteins.

 Triglycerides are stored as fatty acids in adipose tissue (the layer of visible fat under the skin and around organs).

 Recent evidence suggests that raised triglycerides pose a risk for coronary artery disease. This is particularly true when raised triglycerides are part of the so-called metabolic syndrome, which is characterised by abdominal obesity, high blood pressure, reduced HDL cholesterol and diabetes or prediabetes.

What is cholesterol?

This fatty substance is present in the bloodstream and in all your tissues and cells. It’s necessary for human life and is made by the liver, although virtually all cells are capable of making it. We also get cholesterol from the foods we eat.

People often think that cholesterol is the root cause of all cardiovascular disease. This is partly true, but such a view is overly simplistic, because cholesterol also has a beneficial role to play in our body. Furthermore, fatty acids – another class of lipids – also influence health and disease, whether they occur in the walls of cells or in particles with cholesterol.

Other lipids

Apart from cholesterol, there are several other biologically important lipids (fats) in the body:

·         Fatty acid derivatives. These can be used as an energy source and are transported in the blood bound to a protein called albumin.

·         Triglycerides consist of three fatty acids linked to a chemical substance called glycerol. Similarly to cholesterol, they are carried in the blood as complexes called lipoproteins.

·         Phospholipids. These are complex molecules of which the phosphate-containing end is water-soluble and the lipid end is not. Phospholipids form part of the cell walls.

Phospholipids and triglycerides are transported in the blood in the form of lipoprotein complexes. These complexes are graded according to size and lipid content, and there are six of them that are clinically important:

Lipoprotein	Size (nanometres)	% protein	% cholesterol	% triglyceride
Chylomicrons	75-1 000	2	3	85-90
Chylomicron remnants	30-80	Increased over above	Increased over above	Decreased from above
Very-low density lipoproteins (VLDL)	30-80	8	16	55-65
Intermediate- density lipoproteins (IDL)	25-40	10	25	15-30
Low-density lipoproteins (LDL)	20	20	46	8-12
High-density lipoproteins (HDL)	7.5-10	50	16	3-10

These lipoprotein "shuttles" have specific functions. Of relevance are:

·         Chylomicrons. These are large particles that carry dietary fats from the intestine through the blood circulatory system. In muscle and adipose tissue there is an enzyme that will enable the removal of a large portion of the triglycerides in chylomicrons.

·         LDL. This delivers cholesterol to tissues, where it is used by growing cells that need cholesterol or may be deposited when in excess. This has earned it the name of "bad cholesterol".

·         HDL. This is known as "good cholesterol", because its main function is to remove cholesterol from cells and tissues and carry it back to the liver for excretion.

How lipids move around

Body components, including lipids, are continually being formed, used, degraded and replaced. The process entails transport of biological compounds between tissues, using the blood plasma as the main highway.

For lipids, this poses a problem since they’re generally not water-soluble.

The transport problem has been solved by incorporating cholesterol and triglycerides into the lipoproteins. These lipoproteins are classified according to their density or protein content.

·         LDL and HDL are the two varieties of lipoproteins that are most strongly associated with vascular disease.

HDL (“good” cholesterol)

An increased level of HDL cholesterol is associated with a lower risk of coronary heart disease (CHD). Conversely, low levels of HDL cholesterol are associated with an increased risk. This is why HDL is thought of as the "good" type of cholesterol.

However, it seems that it is not actually the cholesterol itself that is “good”, but the lipoprotein which carries it – in other words, high-density lipoprotein (HDL).

It appears that the HDL molecule itself can clean out excess cholesterol – including that which came from the “bad” LDL cholesterol which has accumulated in the walls of arteries – and take it back to the liver for reprocessing. It also performs antioxidant activities, which help protect arteries against atherosclerosis, the cause of CHD.

What are triglycerides?

A triglyceride is a molecule formed by three fatty acid chains linked to a molecule of glycerol.

Triglycerides are carried in the blood as lipoprotein complexes (see article on for more detail). Once they reach their target organ, triglycerides are split by enzymes to release the three fatty acids inside the tissues, where they are used as a source of energy or stored again as triglycerides. The visible evidence of this is the fat under the skin, but some fat can also be stored in the abdomen and organs. All tissues are able to use fats for energy, heart muscle in particular.

The amount of stored fat varies widely: in non-obese men it can make up 15% of body weight and in non-obese women, 21%. Deposition of the fat on the hips, buttocks and thighs (peripheral obesity) is believed to be less unhealthy compared with fat deposited in the abdomen (central obesity). The latter forms could be a manifestation of the metabolic syndrome with attendant increases of triglycerides, resistance to insulin, elevation of blood pressure and decrease in HDL.

There is another type of body fat known as “brown fat”, which is present more in infancy than in adulthood. This is found on the back, at the nape of the neck and around the major blood vessels. The function of brown fat is thought to be mainly concerned with insulation, heat production and for adapting to cold climates.

Triglycerides and heart disease

Triglycerides are usually measured as part of a standard blood lipid profile. But what do the results mean?

So far, all we know is that triglycerides have been associated with coronary artery disease (CAD). But there is no definite proof that they alone are actually a specific risk factor.

However, most people with raised triglycerides have other major risk factors for CAD such as obesity, diabetes and high blood pressure. This has made it difficult to sort out whether triglycerides are an independent risk factor.

The relationship between triglycerides and high-density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol is complex. Whenever triglycerides are increased, HDL decreases. So it may be that part of the problem with raised levels of triglycerides is that they come with lower levels of HDL.

However, there is recent evidence to suggest that raised triglycerides alone pose a risk for CAD. This is particularly true when raised triglycerides are part of the so-called metabolic syndrome, which is characterised by abdominal obesity, high blood pressure, reduced HDL cholesterol, and diabetes or prediabetes.

Where do cholesterol and triglycerides come from?

There are two main sources of cholesterol and triglycerides:

·         External sources: the diet

·         Internal sources: manufactured/recycled by the body, especially the liver

Fats from our diet 

In terms of diet, cholesterol and triglycerides come mainly from eating animal products, fish, dairy products and various oils, which are then absorbed through the gut.

Eggs and shrimp have very high cholesterol content. For practical purposes, plants have no cholesterol. Plant products have cholesterol-like substances called phytosterols, which may compete with cholesterol for absorption. When consumed in very large amounts, they can lower cholesterol absorption and consequently lower blood cholesterol by about 5-10%.

In the intestine, the ingested cholesterol and triglycerides are assembled into special spherical packages called chylomicrons, which travel through the bloodstream to the liver. Most of the cholesterol in the diet stays in the chylomicrons and is taken up by the liver where it mixes with newly made cholesterol, made by the liver itself. Chylomicrons only remain in the blood stream for a short while. The liver is where fats are broken down and made from metabolic products of sugars and proteins. Not only does the liver make cholesterol, it also makes fatty acids, triglycerides and phospholipids for export to the rest of the body. The fats made in the liver are assembled with protein compounds called apolipoproteins to make a new, fat-rich lipoprotein called VLDL – very-low-density lipoproteins.

Again, the VLDLs lose most of their triglycerides as fatty acids to muscle and adipose tissue where they are either used or stored. Some of these are taken up by the muscles as fuel while the rest is laid down as fatty (adipose) tissue in the body. The fats in adipose tissue act as energy reserves – all too often never utilised!

But instead of excess being taken up by the liver, they are converted in the plasma (the liquid, non-cellular part of the blood) into a new form of lipoprotein called LDL or low-density lipoprotein. LDL is very rich in cholesterol and is known as the “bad” form of cholesterol. It is these particles which, in excess, can lead to atherosclerosis and coronary artery disease.

LDL remains in the blood stream for around three days before it is removed by the liver.

The mechanism whereby LDL is removed by the liver is important. LDL is linked to a protein called apoB. This recognises a specific receptor on the liver cell – the apoB-receptor also known as the LDL receptor. This allows LDL to “dock” at the receptor and so be taken up by the liver.

This is important because if the receptor is faulty, as happens in the case of familial hypercholesterolaemia, the LDL is not taken up. When this happens, an excess of LDL circulates in the blood stream, penetrating the vascular wall and leading to coronary artery disease.

There is another lipoprotein in this story – HDL or high-density lipoprotein. Of all the lipoproteins, only high-density lipoprotein (HDL) does not deposit cholesterol in tissues. Instead, it removes cholesterol, taking it back to the liver for excretion.

HDL has the ability to pick up excess free cholesterol from peripheral (non-liver) cells, including those accumulating in the arterial wall which predispose to coronary artery disease.

HDL returns the excess cholesterol directly to the liver. HDL also carries important protective antioxidant enzymes and other molecules which lessen the risk of coronary artery disease. It seems also to limit the adverse response of the arterial lining to lipoproteins, cells and clotting processes.

All these properties make HDL an effective anti-coronary disease agent. The cholesterol measured in HDL is therefore called "good" cholesterol.

This means that not only are your levels of cholesterol and triglycerides important, but also the levels of LDL and HDL.

High levels of LDL and low levels of HDL mean that you have a greater risk of coronary artery disease, and the opposite means that you’re better protected.

The amount of cholesterol and triglycerides made in the liver is influenced by the total energy (kilojoule) intake in the diet and the quantity and kind of fat consumed. That is one reason why diet is so important.

·         Eating saturated fats raises levels of LDL (“bad”) cholesterol; hence too much of these in the diet is harmful.

·         Mono- and polyunsaturated fats are much better for you than saturated fats. In fact eating certain unsaturated fats can actually decrease your total cholesterol levels.

·         When unsaturated vegetable fats are hydrogenated, the process produces yet another type of fatty acid as a side product, called a trans fatty acid. Not only do trans fatty acids raise LDL levels, and so the total levels of cholesterol, but they also lower the levels of HDL – known to protect against coronary artery disease.

·         Measuring lipoproteins

·         The lipoproteins (LPs) have historically been the focus of research into the causes of atherosclerosis and coronary artery disease.

·         They are still important to our understanding, though we now know that many other biological systems are also involved.

·         Because so many different factors – some still unknown – are involved in the development of atherosclerosis and CAD, it is difficult to accurately predict an individual’s risk for a heart attack. However, if someone suffers from extreme derangements or disorders, the risk is vastly increased and easier to predict.

·         The good news is that, for the majority of the population, preventative lifestyle interventions reduce the risk of future illness can to a great extent.

·         Measuring risk

Armed with information about lipoproteins, techniques were developed to measure HDL (“good”) and LDL (“bad”) cholesterol separately. Further research also began to illuminate the biological and other factors which determine the levels of these two plasma lipoproteins.

·         Levels of LDL cholesterol are directly linked to those of another protein – apoB – which is almost entirely carried by LDL. So, instead of measuring LDL cholesterol, scientists realised that measurement of apoB would give similar (but not identical) information.

·         It was also discovered that the LDL packages themselves became smaller and denser in certain disorders, including hypertriglyceridaemia (the medical term for raised triglyceride levels).

·         There is evidence that these forms of LDL are more likely to cause atherosclerosis than the normal version. They are called small-dense LDL or sd-LDL.

Source : http://www.health24.com.