How to Naturally Lower Cholesterol

So you may have just received the bad news from your doctor that your “cholesterol is high” and that “you need to start a diet to lower your cholesterol”

Ugh!!! What to do?

This diet most likely excludes many of your favorite foods….meat and fried foods to say the least!!

Before we get started, let’s talk about why we even care about this thing called cholesterol…

High cholesterol levels over time deposit in the linings of your arteries and cause a condition known as “atherosclerosis” or hardening of the arteries. Hard arteries cause high blood pressure. Remember when you were a child and you would stick your thumb over the hose and watch how much further you can make the water shoot? Well this same principal is what causes your blood pressure to elevate from clogged arteries. The plaques that form can also be of concern as they can break off and close down blood supply to the heart or the brain and cause a “heart attack” or “stroke” respectively.

So, in the long term we are primarily concerned about this “high cholesterol” turning in to high blood pressure, heart attacks, stroke, erectile dysfunction, and other not so fun things.

Cholesterol levels become high as a result of increased dietary intake, or increased production in the liver. What your doctor is mostly concerned about is what is referred to as the “bad cholesterol” or “LDL cholesterol”. Contrary to popular belief, LDL is not actually a cholesterol, it is a protein that transports cholesterol molecules to be deposited in the arteries.

Yikes!!! No wonder this LDL thing is so bad!!!

So we want to decrease this LDL cholesterol while increasing the “good cholesterol” also known as the “HDL cholesterol”. HDL sucks up cholesterol from the arteries and brings it back to the liver for recycling. Hooray!! The more of this HDL cholesterol the better, right?

Aside from medications or natural supplements that should be instigated and monitored by your doctor there are several things that can be done on your own to improve this LDL/HDL ratio.

First of all we want as many molecules of HDL cholesterol out there sucking up cholesterol from the arteries as possible. Guess what the best way to do that is?

Exercise is the best known way to increase your HDL levels.

Please check with your doctor and insure that you are healthy enough to start a new exercise routine.

Aside from exercise we obviously need to follow a low cholesterol diet to reduce the amount of intake from foods.

A great way to reduce the amount of cholesterol that is already circulating through our system is through a high fiber diet.

Fiber sucks up cholesterol like a sponge. When we eat, the liver secretes cholesterol rich bile in to the intestine to help break down our food, this bile will get re-absorbed back to the liver through a process known as “Entero-hepatic circulation”.

One way to circumvent this process is to eat tons of fiber to bind the bile and thus cholesterol and other toxins so that they can be eliminated properly from the body and not re-absorbed.

Fiber is fabulous because it will not only lower your cholesterol levels but it is the best thing you can do to detox your system.

Be sure to drink plenty of water when increasing your fiber levels.

Be sure to also increase your fiber levels gradually.

The final key component that I will discuss to get you started on your cholesterol lowering program is the use of antioxidants.

Vitamins and nutrients found in fresh fruits and vegetables such as vitamin C are very important anti-oxidants for the reduction of cardiovascular disease that develops from high cholesterol levels. The free radicals in fried foods for instance help create the “Glue” for holding these plaques of cholesterol down. An anti-oxidant such as vitamin C destroys the shark like free radical molecules wreaking havoc in your bloodstream.

By reducing the amount of cholesterol that is allowed to be glued down to your arteries you are reducing the long term consequences of cardiovascular disease and other complications that typically result from high cholesterol.
A high fiber low cholesterol diet rich in anti-oxidants as well as exercise are the key to any cholesterol lowering program, if you are overwhelmed by making these changes all at once, simply pick one thing to work on at a time. Working hard on these foundations to a cholesterol lowering program should prevent having to increase your medication levels whether prescription or alternative in the future.

“Inch by inch is a cinch. Yard by yard is hard.”

Author: Dr. Nicole Sundene, Naturopathic Physician

Dr. Nicole Sundene, NMD is a licensed Naturopathic Medical Doctor at Fountain Hills Naturopathic Medicine 16719 E Palisades Blvd, Suite 205, Fountain Hills, AZ 85268.

She believes we should utilize natural medicines to treat the root cause of disease rather than just treating symptoms, as symptoms are a message of imbalance sent from the body and will persist until they are properly addressed.

For appointments please visit http://FHnaturopathic.com for more information about Naturopathic Medicine services.
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