These days many people suffer from high levels of cholesterol. It has been seen that high levels of cholesterol usually lead to cardiovascular diseases, atherosclerosis and even chronic cardiac failures.
Medical records now reveal that every year more than a million people in the United States experience heart attacks and half a million more die due to many other heart diseases. As per the American Heart Association (AHA), people having total cholesterol of about 240 mg/dL (mg per deciliter) have twice as much risk of heart attack as people who normally have the cholesterol level of about 200 mg/dL.
There are two types of cholesterol:
- LDL, otherwise known as "bad" cholesterol, is the main cause of artery hardening or rigidity, a condition known as atherosclerosis.
- HDL, which is also known as "good" cholesterol, as it has a capability to take off any LDL which gets deposited on the walls of arteries when it passes in our bloodstream.
Therefore, it effectively means that LDL actually elevates the level of cholesterol and HDL lowers it.
Different ways of lowering your cholesterol in a natural way
There are many ways of lowering your cholesterol naturally, including the following:
- Consistent exercise: Regular exercise for about 25 minutes a day for about four to five times a week can have significant impact on your health and can lower any risk of life threatening diseases. Regular physical activity and exercise also lowers cholesterol and reduces triglyceride levels. This automatically reduces any risk of diabetes and heart disease.
- Increased intake of soluble fiber. You should try to increase the consumption of soluble fibers to about 12 grams per day as this can effectively reduce your cholesterol level to a great extent. Some good sources of soluble fiber are bran, oat products and fruits and different kinds of vegetables.
- Scale down the consumption of trans fats and saturated fats. You can find trans fats in pastries, fried foods, cookies and similar kinds of foods. You should limit the intake of such foods to restrict your calorie and fat intake, which will surely help you in lowering your cholesterol. Saturated fats can easily be found in several animal-based foods like meat, dairy products based on whole milk (like cheese, ice-cream, yoghurt, etc). Such fats are also present in some plant based foods which are high in fats like palm oil.
- Increase your consumption of omega-3 fatty acids. You should eat all those foods which are rich in the omega-3 fatty acids. It greatly reduces the unhealthy triglyceride levels by about 40% and LDL cholesterol levels by about 55% as a result of which any chances of serious coronary disease are gradually eliminated. Therefore you must take advantage of some best sources of omega-3 fatty acids in fish like herring, salmon, halibut, tuna and sardines. If you are a non-fish eater, you can get numerous benefits of omega-3 fatty acids by consuming the fish oil supplements.
- Avoid eggs, whole milk and red meat. You should avoid the consumption of eggs, whole milk and red meat as they are actually concentrated cholesterol foods. You can easily replace them in your diet with the much healthier foods having lower cholesterol content.
- Eat soy-based products. Increased consumption of soy based products helps in lowering your cholesterol levels. Several studies have revealed that foods which contain soy can help in lowering the LDL cholesterol by about 15%.
- Eat apples, blueberries and garlic. You can easily combine these foods with several other foods in your recipes. Blueberries and garlic help in lowering cholesterol and blood pressure to a great extent. Apples have fiber pectin in them which decreases the amount of cholesterol which is produced in the liver.
- Stop smoking. Many studies have revealed that smoking accelerates the plaque buildup in the arteries, thus compounding the effects of increased levels of LDL cholesterol.
- Shed excess weight: Excess weight changes the body’s metabolism and the way in which it deals with cholesterol and fat. If you can lose your body weight in a steady manner, it will surely improve your overall health and will also help in lowering your cholesterol level. This also reduces any risk of high blood pressure and diabetes.
- Keep a close watch on your cholesterol consumption. You must watch cholesterol consumption. If you are currently on a low cholesterol diet plan, you must pay adequate attention to all the food labels to ensure that your daily cholesterol intake is less than 210 mg.
- Consume red yeast rice on regular basis. Most of the statin drugs which are used for controlling the cholesterol are actually manufactured from the red yeast rice. Now it only makes sense that if it is taken in its natural form, it will surely work in a way to lower the cholesterol levels by using its ability to limit the cholesterol production.
- Avoid stress. Anxiety and stress causes several chemicals to be released in our body which reduce flow of blood to your heart and also cause hypertension.
- Take supplements for lowering your cholesterol levels. Many supplements can effectively lower the cholesterol levels without any side effects and provide same results as with drugs. The only concern if any would be the time taken by them to achieve the results. It has been noticed that supplements take a bit longer to lower the cholesterol levels as compared to drugs.
It is essential to use the supplements like selenium, ginseng, green tea extracts and vitamin C to keep your cholesterol level in check. You should use these cholesterol lowering supplements as an addition to the good food choices for achieving satisfactory results.
Sources:
American Heart Association (accessed 10-28-2010)
www.mayoclinic.com (accessed 10-28-2010)
Sanjay B Sharma - Sanjay B Sharma is a professional freelance writer and copywriter, with articles and blog posts appearing on dozens of sites. After ...
