CholestOff: Reduces High Cholesterol Naturally

I have high cholesterol - 259 Total Blood Cholesterol level, to be precise. Anything over 240 is considered high risk, and people with levels this high are twice as likely to have heart disease as those with a level below 200 mg/dL (milligrams per deciliter of blood). The bad cholesterol (LDL) is too high; the good cholesterol (HDL) is too low. That's what the results said that I received back from my annual physical. It also suggested that I come back in and see the doctor about possible options.

I believe that I've had high cholesterol for many years, but my doctors have never suggested anything specific to treat the problem ("you need to watch what you eat", "you need to exercise more", etc.) until this year - my first physical with a new doctor. She is about 30 years younger than my last doctor - maybe a good reason to switch doctors now and then? - and she seems to have a much more open approach to treatment than just prescribing medications. For this reason, I was less hesitant about following through with their suggestion that I come in for a follow-up visit, because I was fairly confident that she would not immediately put me on Lipitor or some other cholesterol-lowering drug. It may still come down to that, if I have a genetically resistant form of high cholesterol. But first, she suggested that I do three things. The first was to keep a food journal for a few weeks, and monitor the percentage of carbohydrates in my diet versus the levels of proteins, fats, fruits and vegetables. Your diet should not be made up of more than 50% carbohydrates, and less is better. The second was to take Omega-3 or fish oil capsules. Having tried fish oil capsules in the past, and hating that "fish belch" that comes with taking them, she suggested that I try Omacor, which is essentially the same ingredients, but it is a prescription Omega-3 capsule that does not have the fish-flavored aftertaste. More on Omacor in a later article.

The third suggestion was that I take CholestOff. Cholestoff is a supplement made by NatureMade that contains plant sterols and stanols. These ingredients have been clinically show to be effective in reducing high cholesterol. This is the same substance that are in many of the new stanol ester brands of margarines and oils, like "I Can't Believe It's Not Butter." And apprently, this ingredient really WORKS! You can get plant stanols and sterols in food - particularly in many fruits, vegetables, vegetable oils, nuts, seeds, cereals and legumes, but few people get the levels required to affect cholesterol through their normal diet. It is recommended that 2-3 grams of plant stanols a day are needed, which equates to 2-4 TABLESPOONS of margerine a day ... probably more than most of us care to consume.

I have just begun this regimen, and am supposed to be on it for two months before I check back in with my doctor, so I can't tell you yet if it is working. I promise to come back in a few months with a follow-up article about the results. But for me, at least, having my doctor suggest CholestOff tells me that there is a good chance this product will work!