Lowering Cholesterol - Can you lower cholesterol naturally?

Many of us want to know about lowering cholesterol. You have probably seen television commercials advertising prescription medications for addressing cholesterol imbalance, and possibly heard your doctor talk about your cholesterol levels, and maybe your numbers do not look too good. However, some people think that all cholesterol is bad, which is not true; there is a good cholesterol and a bad cholesterol, and it is the "bad" that you and your doctor should be concerned about.

There are drugs called statins that are often used to lower bad cholesterol quickly, but many people experience side effects from these drugs and cannot take them. However, there are natural products and dietary supplements you can take to help lower cholesterol naturally.

What is Cholesterol?

Cholesterol is a lipid or a fat that is found in animal products. When you consume more cholesterol-foods than your liver can handle, it combines itself with proteins in the body. When you consume too much cholesterol from foods, then you have a chance of producing too much cholesterol, which is known to cause heart disease by clogging up the blood vessels. Your blood vessels cannot carry as much blood to the rest of your body when there are clots or deposits of cholesterol in the walls of the arteries, which can lead to heart attacks.

Good Cholesterol and Bad Cholesterol

Good cholesterol is called high-density lipoproteins or HDL, and the bad cholesterol is the low-density lipoproteins or LDL. Most cholesterol from food is in the form of LDL, which of course has been a problem with the Western diet that does not include enough green vegetables and fruits. In fact, the average American consumes approximately 150 to 200 milligrams of LDL cholesterol (the bad kind) with each meal.

Good cholesterol or HDL actually works as a catalyst to remove cholesterol from the blood vessels and carries it back to the liver where it is processed and then removed from the body. When a person's diet is inundated with foods that are high in LDL, their HDL levels are much lower and doesn't have the ability of moving the bad out of the body. Therefore, when you go to the doctor and they test your blood, you are likely to have high LDL levels and low HDL levels if you eat a lot of animal and dairy products.

Causes of High Cholesterol

High LDL levels are typically caused by four factors: being overweight, having a family history of high cholesterol, a diet filled with bad cholesterol foods, and as you get older, your cholesterol tends to increase. Typically, your total cholesterol level should be below 200 with an LDL below 70, and HDL should be above 60 for optimal health, which would mean your cholesterol numbers would be 70 / 60, which would be perfect, but most people do not have these perfect numbers. So there are ranges, for instance, if your LDL 100 to 139 it is considered ideal, and if your HDL is 50 to 59 it is in the normal range.

Lowering Cholesterol Naturally

Since many people cannot tolerate statins, they look for natural ways of lowering cholesterol levels. There are several things you can do to get your levels in the normal range and keep them there with diet, exercise and supplements.

When it comes to diet, the Western diet has very little greens but lots of cholesterol-laden foods, therefore, you need to increase your intake of vegetables and fruits, and lower your intake of high cholesterol-foods to create a better balance. As a rule of thumb, with every meal you should have a large serving of green vegetables. In between meals, you can eat fruits, such as tart cherries or blueberries. Both are excellent antioxidants and can help to lower your LDL levels.

Begin cardiovascular exercise, such as biking or walking. You do not have to workout three hours everyday, but you do need to get your body moving. Begin where you are, meaning if you are not used to exercise at all, then take five minutes on a bike every other day for a week and then increase it a bit. You want to get in about 20 to 30 minutes of cardiovascular workout at least three times a week.

Several supplements can help with lowering cholesterol naturally, such as niacin, but begin at a small dose because it can cause the "flush" effect. Additionally, artichoke leaf tablets can help lower your cholesterol, and eating foods or taking supplements that contain soluble fiber reduces cholesterol. Red yeast rice and omega 3 fish oils, both can help lower bad LDL, but also can help raise the HDL.

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