Naturally Lower Cholesterol

SAFETY WARNING: If you are under a physician's care and or taking ANY prescription medications, please discuss this information with your doctor BEFORE trying any of the suggestions below. There are some serious complications with some health conditions and medications. If you are pregnant, nursing or trying to become pregnant, see your doctor before starting any changes to your diet. Even over the counter (OTC) medications or other herbal supplements can have serious interactions if taken together. Always speak with your health care provider and make sure you are well informed of the pros and cons of any change in your healthcare. At no time should you change your health care without consulting your doctor.

There are several reasons that you may be concerned about your cholesterol. Do you know what your cholesterol levels are? Personally my family has a history of CHD (coronary heart disease), so I watch my weight and try to eat a balanced diet. Though I am not overweight, I know that I need to exercise more. I have several friends who not only should but desperately need to change their lifestyle and eating habits. My boyfriend has a family history of CHD that scares the daylights out of him and has made some changes to his lifestyle several years ago, but he doesn't exercise and his eating habits until recently were horrible. He was recently told he is pre-hypertension. So now he needs to get his cholesterol levels checked.

Obviously, CHD is a serious health concern. If you or someone you know have reasons to be concerned, get checked by your healthcare professional. I personally believe that prescriptions are handed out way too easily when other options are available, if you are willing to do the research. As with anything regarding your health, remember your physician must be consulted first. If your physician isn't willing to discuss or is not knowledgeable of alternatives to prescriptions, I would suggest requesting they acquire the knowledge or find a doctor who is more open minded. More and more doctors are becoming aware of natural remedies to health concerns. I am in no way saying that herbal supplements will repair your arteries if you need surgery. I am talking to people who have knowledge that they may be candidates for serious heart problems in the future if they don't make changes now.

Know what the risk factors are. If you answer yes to two or more of the following questions, you need to have your cholesterol levels checked and discuss your options with your healthcare provider.

A. Do you have diabetes or previous stroke or heart conditions?

B. Do you smoke?

C. Are you a couch potato? (do not exercise regularly)

D. Are you 25 pounds or more overweight?

E. Is your blood pressure 120/80 or higher?

F. Do you have a family history of CHD?

G. Are you a male at 45 yrs old or a woman at 55 yrs old or more?

H. Is your normal total fat intake above 25% of your recommended calorie intake?

I. Do you know your cholesterol levels? Is your HDL too low or your LDL too high?

Cholesterol levels are measured in milligrams per deciliter (mg/DL). Desirable total cholesterol less than 200 mg/DL; LDL is lower than 130 mg/dl. Borderline high cholesterol is between 200-239 mg/DL or LDL is 139-159. High cholesterol is greater than 240 mg/DL or LDL is mg/DL or higher. If you have heart disease LDL above 100 mg/DL is too high. Also HDL level less than 35 mg/DL is too low and also increases risk.

Each type of cholesterol contains specific combination of cholesterol, protein and triglycerides (blood fat). HDL is high density lipo proteins. HDL is good cholesterol. HDL is more protein than fat. HDL helps your body by taking the place that the bad cholesterol would. It helps clear and remove the LDL from your body. High HDL may protect you from heart attacks. It's easy to remember if you use Healthy DL and Lousy DL. LDL is low density lipo proteins. LDL is more fat than protein. LDL attaches itself to receptors along your artery walls and causes blockages, which lead to stroke or to the heart which causes heart attacks.

VLDL is very low density lipoproteins. Elevated levels of VLDL are associated with increased risk of coronary heart disease. VLDL contains the highest amount of triglycerides. They don't have a simple way of measuring VLDL yet so they calculate it as a percentage of triglycerides.

Triglycerides provide energy for your body whereas cholesterol is used to build cell membranes and hormones. Both circulate through your body on protein packages called lipoproteins normal triglycerides are below 150 mg/DL. High triglycerides may contribute to increased risk of stroke heart attack and heart disease by hardening the arteries or thickening arterial walls. Having high triglycerides may also indicate other health issues such as diabetes, obesity, and metabolic syndrome, low levels of thyroid hormones or liver or kidney disease. To lower triglycerides follow the same routine as lowering cholesterol, but you also need to lower simple carbohydrate intakes such as sugar. Which increases insulin output which in turn increases triglycerides?

There are some fairly obvious changes that should be made right away:

1. Do not go on a Diet. You cannot fix it with a temporary change in eating or weight loss. This is a permanent change in lifestyle including eating healthier. Don't panic though because unless you're still eating like a teenager hooked on junk food, fast food and pizza, changing gradually by enhancing the positive foods and decreasing the negative foods will make it easier on yourself. Remember the food pyramid in school? This is the start of the right way to eat. If you need specific guidelines on what and how much to eat, there are numerous websites available as well as your doctor's recommendations.

(1. http://www.webmd.com/cholesterol-management/news/20030722/low-cholesterol-diet-works-well-drugs)

(2. http://www.eatingwell.com/shop/cookbooks/healthy_heart_cookbook.html?utm_source=EWTWNL#minimize)

2. Quit Smoking. I know, easier said than done. There are many ways to do it. Cold turkey, pills, patches, gum, shots and more. Regardless of which method you use, it is only successful when YOU motivate yourself to do so and when you have the support of people around you. If you don't feel enough support from your family and friends, join a group. American Cancer Society or your local doctor's clinic will help you find support groups that can help. http://www.smokefree.gov

3. Exercise. Even starting with a brisk 15 minute walk twice a day and gradually increasing to 30 minutes or more 4 or 5 times a week is beneficial to your health. If you have trouble motivating yourself to go for a walk, adopt a medium to large dog or borrow a neighbor's dog. Small dogs may not keep a good pace or be able to walk long enough, but a bigger dog will keep going longer. Yoga, swimming, aerobics, jogging and many more options are available. Remember it doesn't have to be the same thing every day, choose 2 or 3 different methods of exercise if you get easily bored.

4. Reduce or lower alcohol consumption. There are some who say that say a drink or two of spirits or wine each day is good for your heart, but if you normally don't drink you should not start for the benefits. Likewise, if you have several drinks each day it doesn't mean you are helping your heart. It all has to do with your liver because that is where your body produces cholesterol. I will explain this in more detail later.

The suggestions I will be making will be using foods, herbs and spices. There is a catch though. You can't just go grab it off the shelf of your local grocery. They must be clean, natural and preferably organic. I don't want to go into a rant about the condition of the current items our grocers try to pawn off on us as 'food', so let's just say that a tomato isn't just a tomato anymore. My daughter has severe allergic reactions to several different foods. For example we have found that though she cannot eat tomatoes from the produce section, out of a can or even frozen pizzas, she can however eat home grown organic tomatoes without a trip to the hospital. Even milk has chemicals and hormones in it. Genetically modified foods, growth hormones, salmonella, E-coli, pesticides, herbicides, and cloning are just a few reasons why we should be concerned about our sources of food. It happens far more often than most people realize and the producers are not required to tell us about it. Also vitamin supplements don't always have enough of what we need to make the changes necessary, or just are not as effective as the original sources. http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/supplements/NU00198

Unless you are certain of the origins of the ingredients sources, I would be wary of using them. Not to mention the FDA is only recently starting to even acknowledge that natural foods can actually heal our bodies of health issues. There are no regulations on the quality of herbal supplements. Studies have been made and many have been found lacking or even containing contaminants' or foreign substances in them.

Most herbs and spices from grocery stores are irradiated rendering them almost completely ineffective medicinally. In addition, they may contain chemicals, herbicides, pesticides or other alterations to their makeup. So buy from a local organic farmer that you can personally question how they grow it, organic products from health food stores or the organic section of your grocer, preferably in that order.

Hopefully I have not bored you to death with all of the above information, because it is important to know. I recommend you research the information above. At the end of this document I will list suggested websites to get more information, many will offer additional links. Be informed and be aware, it is your body and the only one your get, so treat it well. So let's get on with the guts of how to naturally lower your blood cholesterol.

In researching cholesterol I have found many natural sources that can have minimal to dramatic effects on HDL and LDL levels. Some have additional benefits to your health and some could have SEVERE interactions with OTC or prescription medications, so please take the SAFETY WARNING at the beginning of this article seriously and research the information yourself. I cannot tell you everything about all of them, I am simply picking a FEW of the many sources of information available, and the rest is up to you. Also remember that I am not certified, degreed or even willing to say knowledgeable enough to advise anyone in their personally care. So I will list the various items that have been stated as potentially able to lower LDL or 'bad' cholesterol levels. I will list some information about each item, but there is way more out there and I just cannot list all of it here. So again, check with your doctor and research it yourself, some are more effective when used together and some cannot be mixed with anything else. Here is the list of all items I will discuss:

Antioxidants Antioxidants are wonderful for many different health benefits to your entire body. You can find statements all over the place stating that they will help keep you young, staying fit and overall healthier than ever before. Personally I know it has something to do with the antioxidant kills free radicals which damage the cells in your body. How or why I do not know. So I read about it and simply put in reference to cholesterol, the antioxidants keep the cholesterol from oxidizing or forming the plaque on our arterial walls. Below are three paragraphs with the web site sources listed. Online description says it neutralize free radicals preventing oxidation of LDL.

An antioxidant is a molecule capable of slowing or preventing the oxidation of other molecules. Oxidation is a chemical reaction that transfers electrons from a substance to an oxidizing agent. Oxidation reactions can produce free radicals, which start chain reactions that damage cells. Antioxidants terminate these chain reactions by removing free radical intermediates, and inhibit other oxidation reactions by being oxidized themselves. As a result, antioxidants are often reducing agents such as thiols or polyphenols.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Antioxidant

Like many fruit juices, pomegranate juice contains antioxidants, especially polyphenols. However, pomegranate juice contains antioxidants at much higher levels than do other fruit juices. Antioxidants are thought to provide several heart-protecting benefits, including reducing low-density lipoprotein (LDL, or "bad") cholesterol.

http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/pomegranate-juice/AN0122

"Pistachio amounts of 1.5 ounces and 3 ounces -- one to two handfuls -- reduced risk for cardiovascular disease by significantly reducing LDL cholesterol levels and the higher dose significantly reduced lipoprotein ratios," says Sarah K. Gebauer, graduate student in integrative biosciences, Penn State, to attendees at the Experimental Biology meeting April 30 in Washington, D.C. "Our study has shown that pistachios, eaten with a heart healthy diet, may decrease a person's CVD risk profile," says Dr. Penny Kris-Etherton, distinguished professor of nutrition and primary investigator of the study. http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2007/04/070430125516.htm

Use: 300 mg phycnogenal (supplement)- decreased cholesterol and LDL blood levels without affecting the HDL levels.

Cayenne,

Benefits: excellent source of vitamin A, good source of C, magnese, B6, fiber and K. It also fights inflammation, pain relief (topical use only), cardiovascular, clears congestion, boosts immune, lose weight. How much it can help with each is debatable and probably different for each person. For CHD it reduces blood cholesterol, triglycerides, and platelet aggregation, while increasing the body's ability to dissolve fibrin. Fibrin is a substance integral to formation of blood clots. To maximize benefits use a high quality cayenne with a true rating of 90,000 -150,000 HU (heat units)

Clinical studies strongly suggest that cayenne can be utilized to carry other substances such as herbs, vitamins, mineral and nutrients into the bloodstream, sometimes within seconds of consumption.

ALLERGY ALERT: people who are allergic to latex, bananas, chestnuts and avocado may also be allergic to cayenne.

WARNING: if you are pregnant, nursing, have ulcers, heartburn, or stomach irritation talk to your doctor first. Do not use aspirin, acid reducers while using a cayenne regiment.

Suggested uses: One must acclimate the body to using cayenne. Start by adding a tiny pinch into your meals each day for a week, then add a little more for the second week. One reason for doing this is to make sure you're not allergic to it or that your stomach can handle it. Even if you enjoy spicy foods, a high quality cayenne can affect people differently. After you are sure you are ok with it, add ¼ teaspoon to 8 oz of warm water, stir well and drink like a tea. Follow this for a week and then each week gradually increase until you reach the optimal use of 1 full teaspoon in water, 3 times per day.

Cayenne is also available in capsules, but there are drawbacks to its use. First, you won't get the maximum benefits in a capsule. Second, you can't gradually adjust your body to its use. Third, if your stomach decides it doesn't like cayenne, you will be in pain for some time. If your stomach would have issues with it do NOT use acid reducers, use either ginger or peppermint (natural food grade forms)

Licorice (glabridin),

Labeled DGL (deglyeyrrhizinated) this means it is stripped of compound in licorice that raises the blood pressure.

Benefits: delays the LDL oxidation. Oxidation is what builds the plaque on arterial walls.

Plant phytosterols, (sterols or phytosterols)

Benefits: they occupy the receptors that cholesterol usually occupies in the intestine, which blocks the absorption by the body. Studies have shown cholesterol is lowered on avg by 24%

Brand names: Basikol, Cholesterol Blocker, Cholesterol Success, Phytosterol Complex. Use: 800 mg twice per day

Take all the information listed above to your doctor and discuss with him/her. If they throw it all out as bogus, talk to a different doctor. If they say it won't help you because your condition requires prescription drugs only, ask if there are alternative medical practices that could help in addition to the prescription(s). Never be afraid of a second opinion or even a third. Also, do your own research. Never believe only one person's opinion or information. Be aware, I may have the best of intentions by bringing this information to your attention, not all information can be deemed accurate or even safe for everyone. Good Luck and Good health and a long healthy life to you.