Surprising Everyday Habits That Can Help Lower Your Cholesterol

Hearing that you have high cholesterol is a scary thing, no matter what age you are. Bad cholesterol leads to a plethora of health problems, including weight gain that heightens your risk of heart attack and stroke. Fortunately, there are many ways that you can help get your cholesterol under control. And we aren’t just talking about taking medications — there are simple everyday habits you can adapt. You may be surprised at what habits can help lower your cholesterol.

First, give the restaurants a rest

A big part of lowering your cholesterol is adjusting how you eat. The biggest key is to eliminate trans fat, which is probably packed into many of your favorite foods. (Think appetizers at your favorite eatery and sweet cafe pastries.) One of the best ways to cut back on these cholesterol-raising foods is to limit how much you eat out. By preparing your own food, you can control what ingredients go into them. Plus, you don’t have to be a professional chef to eat better! Many cholesterol-fighting foods are easy to prepare.

Load up on nuts

Part of adjusting your habits to lower your cholesterol is getting rid of the polysaturated fats and replacing them with polyunsaturated fats. The best way to do this is to stop snacking on processed foods like cookies and crackers, and reach for a handful of nuts. Almonds, walnuts, and other legumes pack protein and healthy fats (more on those in just a bit) which help reduce your cholesterol levels.

Have a glass of wine

That’s right — adapting a Mediterranean diet can help lower your cholesterol. And that includes having a glass of red wine at the end of the day. As Mayo Clinic explains, red wine contains resveratrol, which is good for your heart’s health. Plus, red wine is packed with antioxidants, which help prevent build up of bad cholesterol in your body.

Take a walk

Food isn’t the only thing that can help lower your cholesterol. Creating healthy habits like regular physical activity go a long way as well. It doesn’t take much to get your heart pumping and fighting off cholesterol. Just taking a brisk walk three or four times a week can go a long way to help ward off any cholesterol-related health issues.

Get fishy

It’s smart to incorporate lots of lean protein into your diet to get your cholesterol levels down. One very easy way to do that is to eat fish a couple times a week. Fish such as tuna and salmon are packed with omega-3 fatty acids — aka good fats — which lower triglycerides in the bloodstream and help prevent plaque buildup in your arteries.

Take a dip

Walking isn’t the only exercise that can help keep cholesterol at bay. Swimming and other water friendly activities are great for aiding in weight loss and keeping your heart healthy. The best part is that you don’t have to be an Olympic-style competitive swimmer to reap the benefits of water workouts. If your gym has a pool, you already have year-round access to getting good cholesterol-fighting exercise.

Cut down on couch potato time

If being active helps lower cholesterol, then you’ll want to get as much exercise as possible. Of course, there will still be days when you want to slouch on your couch and not do anything. But you have to fight that urge! Sitting for long periods of time results in higher cholesterol and high blood pressure, plus increases your risk of cardiovascular disease.

Count your calories

That’s right — you’re going to have to be one of those people that is extra aware of how many calories they are shoveling in their faces. While this habit may seem pesky, it will go a long way to helping get your cholesterol under control. “All fats, whether good or bad, have nine calories per gram—about 100 calories a tablespoon,” Harvard Health Publishing explains. “While you switch to a heart-healthy diet you may need to keep tabs on your calorie intake for a while.”

Add fiber

Part of adjusting your diet to lower your cholesterol is adding foods that will fill you up and keep you from craving all the bad stuff. This is where fiber comes in. Soluble fiber — found in foods like avocado and oatmeal — can help reduce the absorption of bad cholesterol in your bloodstream, in addition to leaving you feeling more full.

Nix the smoking

You probably know many of the health problems that stem from smoking. But did you know that it also affects your cholesterol? Smoking actually magnifies the effect that bad cholesterol has on your body, whether you’re trying to adjust your diet or not. Everyday Health tells us that kicking your smoking habit can increase your good cholesterol levels by 30% in less than a month!

Get support

It can be hard to incorporate new daily habits, even when you know it’s good for you. That’s why it helps to get people in your corner. Like with any kind of lifestyle change, having family, friends, and your significant other supporting you and helping you stay on track can speak volumes. Plus, support relieves stress, which is better for your heart!

Incorporate more omega-3s

We’ve already told you about eating fish a few times a week. But there are other foods rich on omega-3s that you can eat throughout the week to help lower your cholesterol. Olive oil, avocados, spinach, and eggs are just a select few foods that can help give you the good fats that you need.

Snack on fruits

If you’re cutting processed sweets out of your diet, you’re probably going to get cravings and end up relapsing. The solution? Start munching on fruit instead. Grapes, apples, citrus, and strawberries are all good choices because they are packed with pectin, which is a soluble fiber.

Add whey

Whey protein isn’t just for muscular gym junkies to put in their post-workout shakes. In fact, whey has been proven to reduce inflammation, boost the effects of antioxidants, and — drum roll please — help lower bad cholesterol in your body.

Consult your doctor

Like with all lifestyle changes, it’s important to have an open dialogue with your doctor about what you can do. If the goal is to lower your cholesterol, it will behoove you to ask your physician what habits you should be incorporating and which you should avoid. The more help you get, the greater your chances are of lowering your cholesterol.

Foods You Probably Think Are Healthy but Actually Aren’t

It can be difficult to eat healthy when there are so many foods out there that claim to be good for you but aren’t. Foods that are low in fat are often high in sodium and sugars, and foods that are gluten free can be packed with fats. Here, we break down some of the foods that appear to be healthy but actually aren’t, and why.

Dried fruit

Dried fruits do pack a lot of nutrients, which is why they come across as healthy. However, since the fruits have been dried and are smaller, it’s easy to eat a lot more of them. With that comes much more sugar, calories, and carbohydrates. One snack sized pack of raisins (dried grapes) has 20 grams of sugar. However, you’d have to consume nearly 1.5 cups of grapes to get the same amount of sugar.

Sushi

Some sushi can be extremely healthy. Other sushi can be extremely unhealthy. If you order a tuna roll with brown rice, you’re safe. However, more exotic rolls, such as anything that features white rice and tempura, can be full of calories, fat, and simple sugars. Sushi’s “spicy sauce” is also made with mayonnaise, which adds a lot of fat content. Always order your sushi with brown rice and avoid anything with too many extras, like fried seafood or spicy sauce.

Gluten-free foods

If you’re not dealing with celiac, it’s best to avoid gluten-free options. Items such as gluten-free doughs and pastas are often packed with extra fats and sugars to make them more palatable and much less healthy. Plus, whole grains are linked to a reduced risk of heart disease, cancer, and obesity, and should be embraced rather than avoided.

Frozen yogurt

Frozen yogurt is actually much higher in calories and sugar than you might expect. If you indulge in two cups of frozen yogurt, you’re consuming close to 400 calories and 76 grams of sugar, according to Shape.com. Plus, consumers often load it with unhealthy toppings like sugary syrups and candy. Although you’ve been told that frozen yogurt is full of probiotics, extreme temperatures can lower the amount of probiotics in this dessert.

Sweet potato fries

Anything that resembles the word “fried” is not very healthy. Sweet potatoes actually have more calories in them than regular potatoes, plus a lot more sugar. Also, restaurants tend to balance out the sweetness with extra salt, which quickly ups your sodium intake. Unless you’re baking the fries and not adding any extra salt, you might as well order regular fries.

Protein bars

When you’re deciding on a new protein bar or meal replacement bar, take a good look at the ingredients. While protein bars do have a lot of protein, they often also have a ton of calories and sugar. Some protein bars’ nutrition is similar to candy bars. If you’re looking for a decent protein bar, always check the nutrition facts and ingredients list to make sure it’s not teeming with calories and added sugar.

Salad dressing

Tangy, sweet, or spicy dressing is often what makes the whole salad. However, dressings are packed with fat and calories that your body doesn’t need. Store-bought dressings often have added artificial flavors and preservatives, too. Even “light” options are not always a good choice, since the lower fat content means a higher sugar and salt content for more flavor. You’re better off making your own salad dressing at home so you can control exactly what’s in it.

Microwave popcorn

While fat-free, butter-free popcorn is a great snack option, any popcorn with butter in it is a big no — butter is full of saturated fat. Plus, most microwave popcorn bags contain a chemical known as PFOA that has been linked to certain cancers. Skip the microwaveable bag and make some fat free Jiffy Pop.

Fruit juice

A glass of orange juice can provide essential vitamin C. Unfortunately, it can also provide a lot of unessential sugar and calories. Some fruit juices contain just as many calories as a soft drink, and, if it’s made from concentrate, it’s packed with unhealthy sugar. Even juices that are “100% natural” are often full of unhealthy ingredients. It’s best to eat an orange instead of sipping on a glass of orange juice.

Veggie burger

Most veggie burgers are not nearly as healthy as you wish they’d be. Packed with sodium and largely processed, veggie burgers can actually do more harm than good when it comes to your health. Plus, most veggie burgers are held together with either butter or oil, both of which are very unhealthy when consumed in excess.

Deli meats

A turkey sandwich on whole wheat bread sounds like a healthy lunch option, but if that turkey is processed deli meat, steer clear. Deli meats are full of sodium — sometimes over 200 milligrams just in one slice. Plus, the World Health Organization recently classified certain deli meats as carcinogenic.

Flavored yogurt

Yogurt does contain probiotics to help digestion, but flavored yogurts are often full of added sugars, corn syrup, and artificial sweeteners. The fruit in some flavored yogurts isn’t always real fruit, either. Greek yogurt topped with real fruit is a good way to ensure that you’re getting essential probiotics without putting tons of sugars into your body as well.

‘Healthy’ frozen dinners

Frozen dinner options that are marketed as healthy, like Lean Cuisine and Smart Ones, are not as healthy as they seem. While these meals tend to be low in calories and fat, they are often packed with sodium to add flavor. Lean Cuisine’s five-cheese lasagna also comes with 51 grams of carbohydrates and 14 grams of sugar.

Low-fat soup

Soup options that say “light” or “low fat” are not anything close to healthy. The reason is because of the uncanny amount of sodium in canned soup. A half-cup of Campbell’s condensed chicken noodle soup has nearly 900 milligrams of sodium in it — and that’s not even close to eating the entire can, which, let’s face it, most of us can do. Soups that have little or no fat can sometimes have even more sodium than that to try and make up for lost flavor.

Veggie pasta

It’s easy to assume that pasta infused with vegetables is good for you. However, when you take a closer look, it’s actually not. Most veggie pastas have one half cup of vegetables in every serving and are made with enriched wheat flour (white flour). This means that in order to get one cup of vegetables, you’d have to double the amount of pasta – which means doubling the amount of sugars and carbohydrates. You’re better off eating whole wheat pasta and filling your bowl with veggies.

China reassigns 60,000 soldiers to plant trees in bid to fight pollution

China has reportedly reassigned over 60,000 soldiers to plant trees in a bid to combat pollution by increasing the country's forest coverage. 

A large regiment from the People's Liberation Army, along with some of the nation's armed police force, have been withdrawn from their posts on the northern border to work on non-military tasks inland.

The majority will be dispatched to Hebei province, which encircles Beijing, according to the Asia Times which originally reported the story. The area is known to be a major culprit for producing the notorious smog which blankets the capital city. 

The idea is believed to be popular among members of online military forums as long as they can keep their ranks and entitlements. 

It comes as part of China's plan to plant at least 84,000 square kilometres (32,400 square miles) of trees by the end of the year, which is roughly equivalent to the size of Ireland. 

The aim is to increase the country's forest coverage from 21 per cent of its total landmass to 23 per cent by 2020, the China Daily newspaper reported.  

Zhang Jianlong, head of China's State Forestry Administration, said by 2035 the figure could reach as high as 26 per cent.

Ajit Pai Being Investigated for Improper Coordination With Sinclair Broadcasting

Last April, the chairman of the Federal Communications Commission, Ajit Pai, led the charge for his agency to approve rules allowing television broadcasters to greatly increase the number of stations they own. A few weeks later, Sinclair Broadcasting announced a blockbuster $3.9 billion deal to buy Tribune Media — a deal those new rules made possible.

By the end of the year, in a previously undisclosed move, the top internal watchdog for the F.C.C. opened an investigation into whether Mr. Pai and his aides had improperly pushed for the rule changes and whether they had timed them to benefit Sinclair, according to Representative Frank Pallone of New Jersey and two congressional aides.

“For months I have been trying to get to the bottom of the allegations about Chairman Pai’s relationship with Sinclair Broadcasting,” Mr. Pallone, the top Democrat on the committee that oversees the F.C.C., said in the statement to The New York Times. “I am grateful to the F.C.C.’s inspector general that he has decided to take up this important investigation.”

It was unclear the extent of the inspector general’s investigation or when it might conclude, but the inquiry puts a spotlight on Mr. Pai’s decisions and whether there had been coordination with the company. It may also force him to answer questions that he has so far avoided addressing in public.

The inquiry could also add ammunition to arguments against the Sinclair-Tribune deal. Public interest groups and Democratic lawmakers, including Mr. Pallone, are strongly opposed to the deal, arguing that it would reduce the number of voices in media and diminish coverage of local news.

Continue reading the main story

Sinclair’s chief executive, Chris Ripley, has called Mr. Pai’s relaxation of media ownership rules a “landmark” development for his company and the industry. A union of Sinclair and Tribune would create the nation’s biggest television broadcaster, reaching seven out of 10 American homes. The F.C.C. and Justice Department are widely expected to approve the merger in the coming weeks.

The office of F.C.C. inspector general, which is a nonpartisan role that reports to the agency and regularly updates Congress on some investigations, said it would “not comment on the existence or the nonexistence of an investigation.”

Mr. Pai’s office and Sinclair declined to comment. When the legislators called for an investigation in November, a spokesman for the F.C.C., representing Mr. Pai, said the allegations of favoritism were “baseless.”

“For many years, Chairman Pai has called on the F.C.C. to update its media ownership regulations,” the F.C.C. spokesman said. “The chairman is sticking to his long-held views, and given the strong case for modernizing these rules, it’s not surprising that those who disagree with him would prefer to do whatever they can to distract from the merits of his proposals.”

A New York Times investigation published in August found that Mr. Pai and his staff members had met and corresponded with Sinclair executives several times. One meeting, with Sinclair’s executive chairman, took place days before Mr. Pai, who was appointed by President Trump, took over as F.C.C. chairman.

Sinclair’s top lobbyist, a former F.C.C. official, also communicated frequently with former agency colleagues and pushed for the relaxation of media ownership rules. And language the lobbyist used about loosening rules has tracked closely to analysis and language used by Mr. Pai in speeches favoring such changes. 

In November, several Democrats in Congress, including Mr. Pallone, called on the inspector general’s office to explore all communications — including personal emails, social media accounts, text messages and phone calls — between Sinclair and Mr. Pai and his staff.

The lawmakers also asked for communications between Mr. Pai’s office and the White House. They pointed to a reportin March 2017 from The New York Post, in which Mr. Trump is said to have met with Sinclair’s executive chairman, David Smith, and discussed F.C.C. rules.

Some members of Congress have asked Mr. Pai for such communications, but he has not responded.

The F.C.C. inspector general, David L. Hunt, and other officials in his office met with aides in the House and Senate, including those for Mr. Pallone, in December. The F.C.C. officials told the aides that they would open an investigation, according to four people with knowledge of the meetings.

In later conversations, F.C.C. officials said that an investigation was underway, according to two other aides.

The aides, all of whom work for Democratic lawmakers, would speak only on the condition of anonymity because the investigation is private.

The investigation could put the F.C.C. inspector general’s office in a high-profile situation.

Mr. Hunt was promoted to lead the office in 2011 by Julius Genachowski, a Democrat and the F.C.C.’s then-chairman, after working in the agency for about five years. The office investigates potential violations of civil and criminal laws by agency staff members and companies that receive money from the agency. On Wednesday, the inspector general for veterans affairs, a similar position, released a scathing report about travel spending by the department’s secretary, David J. Shulkin.

The F.C.C.’s inspector general does not make public all of its investigations. But details of some investigations have been disclosed through Freedom of Information Act requests and through the office’s reports to Congress.

In 2015, the inspector general’s office looked into possible coordination between the Obama administration and the F.C.C. chairman at the time, Tom Wheeler, on the creation of so-called net neutrality rules. The rules prevented broadband providers from blocking or slowing traffic to consumers. The inspector general said its investigation could not find clear improper conduct.

Antitrust experts said this new investigation may complicate the reviews of the Sinclair-Tribune deal by the F.C.C. and the Justice Department. Even if the deal were approved, they said, any conclusions of improper conduct by Mr. Pai could give fuel to critics to challenge the review in courts.

“An investigation could cast a cloud over the whole process,” said Andrew Schwartzman, a senior fellow at Georgetown Law Center’s Institute for Public Representation. “For the review, knowledge of an investigation could generate caution and even delay completion of the deal.”

Friends Of The Enemy How The French Women-Collaborators Were Punished After D-Day,1944

French women who befriended the Nazis, through coerced, forced, or voluntary relationships, were singled out for shameful retribution following the liberation of France. The woman photographed here, believed to have been a prostitute who serviced German occupiers, is having her head shaved by French civilians to publicly mark her. This picture was taken in Montelimar, France, August 29, 1944.

At the end of World War II, over 20, 000 French people accused of collaboration with Germany endured a particularly humiliating act of revenge: their heads were shaved in public. Nearly all those punished were women. This episode in French history continues to provoke shame and unease and as a result has never been subject of a thorough examination.

Throughout France, from 1943 to the beginning of 1946, about 20000 women of all ages and all professions who were accused of having collaborated with the occupying Germans had their heads shaved. Just as the identity of those who carried this task out varied so too did the form it took. For example, among those who carried it out can be found members of the Resistance, those who took part in fighting at the time of the Liberation, neighbors who came down into the street once the Germans had left and men whose authority depended on the police and the courts. All of them carried put this violent deed either behind closed doors, inside the walls of a prison or the home of the women so punished, or in a public square. If, in the last instance, it was men who wielded the scissors and the clippers, the population as a whole – men, women and children – were present at the event, which was both a spectacle and a demonstration of the punishment to be meted out to traitors.

The imposition of punishment with distinct sexist overtone, characterized by branding or marking, has overshadowed its use for all acts of collaboration. After the war up to the present, photographs of the women with shaven heads have become the only evidence of practice about which those who carried it out have remained silent – attention has been directed at the victims and at the act itself, leaving both what preceded and followed it (collaboration, accusation, arrest, judgment, condemnation) neglected.

Of the collaborative acts of which women were accused, four categories can be defined: political, where they had belonged to a collaborationist organization or, more modestly, had held opinions in favour of the enemy or shown opposition to the Resistance and allied forces; financial, if they had benefited from professional or business contacts; personal, if they had relationships with members of he occupying forces. They could also be accused someone to the occupying authorities. A fifth reason for being arrested and for having one’s head shaved was to be someone from one of the Axis countries; this did not necessarily indicate collaboration but it invited suspicion. In total there were 23 2315 people who had their head shaved as a punishment for being a collaborationist.

Lee Miller, one of the photographers who documented the event, talks of the ease with which this shift could take place:

I saw four girls who had been led through the streets and I rushed toward them to take a photograph. At once I found myself at the front of the procession and the local people thought I was the female soldier who had captured them, or something like that, and I was kissed and congratulated at the same time as slaps and spits rained down on the unfortunate girls.

There's A Huge Secret Underneath The Playboy Mansion (11 Pics)

Secret underground tunnels leading to the Playboy mansion from the homes of some very big celebrities. It is rumored that playboys, “Mr. J. Nicholson,” “Mr. W. Beatty,” “Mr. K. Douglas” and “Mr. J. Caan” all had tunnels leading to the basement of the mansion.  A Playboy.com staffer claims that while pulling archived photos in preparation for Hugh Hefner’s April 9 birthday, he uncovered “some Polaroids from 1977 that showed a large excavation project at The Playboy Mansion.” Can you imagine heading to one of the most exclusive parties via the Playboy mansion tunnels? Talk about arriving in style.

 Basically these guys, and a few others, had fast passes to the worlds greatest bachelor pad. 

When the discovery was initially made, the editorial staff went to the Playboy Mansion and were given access by mansion staff to a basement area. There they  found old photos, blueprints and plans.

The polaroids that were found were dated 1977. They showed a large excavation project at the residence.

The editorial staff contacted the Playboy Mansion about the polaroids they had found. The Playboy Mansion’s current general manager responded, “that’s probably when they built the tunnels in the 70s.

All of the plans and blueprints clearly indicated that these tunnels led specifically to the homes of Jack Nicholson, Kirk Douglas, James Caan, and Mr. Warren Beatty, who all lived in mansions nearby.

When the Playboy.com team asked to see the actual tunnels, a staff member said (off the record), that he’d “heard” they were closed up sometime in 1989.

That was the same year Mr. Hefner married playmate Kimberley Conrad. Does that mean she put her foot down and said no more shenanigans? 

The Playboy journalists then reached out to Mr. Hefner as well as reps for Nicholson, Caan, Douglas and Beatty, but none of them wished or agreed to comment. Why wont they spill the beans? There has to be some amazing stories behind this!

The team is now making a plea for more information to readers (and their Dads) who might have been hanging around secret entrances to basement tunnels at the mansion in the 70s or 80s. 

A lot of people partied hard at the world famous house, so there has to be someone that has some information about these Playboy mansion tunnels. And if there isn't, well that brings into question if they exist for real. 

There is a lot of controversy over the tunnels. A lot of people are nonbelievers. Personally I think it's made up. But I can see how it could be believable. It's not like they don't have a zoo and other very elaborate things on the grounds. This would not be that surprising. 

Hugh Hefner recently revealed that he has slept with over a thousand women! He insists that he was always faithful during his three marriages but "made up for it" when he was single. For anyone who might be wondering about how much money Hef makes "training" Playboy bunnies and running men’s magazines you're in for a shock. Hugh Hefner’s net worth is estimated at $43 million, according to Celebrity Net Worth. When Playboy stock was at its highest he had a net worth of more than $200 million. Currently Hugh doesn't own his own home. That Playboy Mansion, tunnels and all the property is owned by Playboy, and Hugh Hefner pays rent and expenses for himself and all those girlfriends. Do you want to know how much he pays in rent, including groceries, household supplies, utilities, cell phone and email? $53,593 per month. Considering his total monthly income is $290,580 I guess he can afford it. 

If You Owe the IRS Over $51,000, It Can Trap You in the United States

The IRS wants you to know: If you owe it more than $51,000 in back taxes, penalties, and interest, then under most circumstances it can and will instruct the State Department to not issue you or renew your passport, leaving you stranded in the open-air prison known as the United States of America. (Full passport revocation is also possible.) The rule is part of 2015's Fixing America's Surface Transportation (FAST) Act, and the IRS intends to begin enforcing it now.

You won't necessarily be trapped in the U.S.A. instantly. When you apply to acquire or renew a passport, the tax attorneys at Caplin & Drysdale explain, "the State Department will generally hold such application open for 90 days to allow the taxpayer a chance to resolve his or her tax delinquency or any other certification issues before denying a passport." So you've got that going for you.

A passport is very important indeed (even though it shouldn't be in a free country). Since 2009 it has been necessary even to return from our northern and southern neighbors. And if you want to hold two such precious documents, either to hedge your bets or just to share significant parts of your life between two different sets of arbitrary lines drawn by different regimes, governments are more and more likely to target you.

The righteously salty Kevin D. Williamson at National Review points outsomething especially awful about this policy: It doesn't even require that your tax liability be in any way criminal. You don't have to have been convicted or even charged with tax evasion or fraud. You merely must owe enough in back taxes plus penalties to cross the $51,000 line. (That threshold will rise with inflation.)

Williamson reminds the IRS and its supposed masters in Congress that "Americans as free people have a God-given right to come and go as they please, irrespective of the preferences of any pissant bureaucrat in Washington. Yes, we curtail people's rights in certain circumstances—when they have been charged with a crime and convicted after due process. Tax fraud is a crime; having unpaid taxes is not."

"Suspending passports in the course of a civil dispute—a civil dispute that may well be in litigation or soon to be in litigation—is banana-republic, totalitarian stuff," he adds, and he's right.

Robert W. Wood at Forbes gives some advice on what to do if you find yourself approaching the threshold of being denied a working passport. "Before a tax debt gets to this stage, the IRS usually sends multiple notices, so you should respond, and keep protesting," he notes. "If you receive an IRS Notice of Proposed Deficiency or Examination Report, prepare a protest before the deadline....A tax debt does not become final if you keep your tax dispute going."

If this eventually fails, then consider "striking a deal with the IRS. It is often not too difficult to get an installment agreement with the IRS to pay your tax debt over time. If you sign one, stick to its terms. Even if your debt is huge, the IRS doesn't call it "seriously delinquent" if you are paying the installments on time."

The Taxpayer Advocate Service, an internal ombudsman of sorts within the IRS, has criticized aspects of the program, after noting (as Matt Welch did at Reason in a 2004 feature) that the IRS has since 1996 been able to do the passport-snatching thing against those who are even $5,000 overdue on child support. As that ombudsman writes on the IRS's own website, there are serious issues with this sort of thing:

Courts have long recognized that the right to travel internationally is a liberty right, protected by the Due Process Clause. See e.g., Kent v. Dulles, 357 U.S. 116 (1958). In the context of passport denial for unpaid child support, courts have found the statute meets due process requirements because it provides for notice and an opportunity to be heard prior to the state agency certifying the unpaid child support to the federal government....

In the context of passport denial for a seriously delinquent tax debt, notice and an opportunity to be heard prior to the certification are limited. The FAST Act only requires two forms of notice to taxpayers who will be certified:

(1) a notice sent to the taxpayer close to or at the same time as the IRS certifies the seriously delinquent tax debt ("contemporaneous notice"), and
(2) language included in Collection Due Process (CDP) hearing notices explaining the potential certification.

Unlike the [notices] in the child support context, currently, the IRS does not plan to provide any additional, direct notice to affected taxpayers beyond the statutory requirements. I believe this lack of notice may not satisfy taxpayers' due process rights under the Fifth Amendment of the Constitution because taxpayers do not have a meaningful opportunity to contest the certifications prior to them taking place.

The Taxpayer Advocate Service later noted that the IRS and State Department are not required under all circumstances to reverse their passport-snatching if you merely pay the debt down below the $51,000 threshold.