High Cholesterol Fixes

In my last blog I talked about the overuse of statin medications for bringing cholesterol down.  In that I said I would give some natural methods of reducing your cholesterol if it is high.  So, here it goes.

1.  Sugar, and the resulting high glucose levels from eating it, flips on the cholesterol manufacturing engine.  You must get your sugar intake brought down!  This includes all forms of sugar -- the obvious sources from candy, cookies, donuts, and ice cream; but also fructose from juices, honey, maple syrup, organic sugar, turbinado sugar, raw sugar...  While it is a stringent goal, keeping your sugar intake to 20 gm a day will improve your cholesterol and lower your risk for diabetes.  READ LABELS.  Sugar is being thrown into virtually every pre-packaged kind of food there is.  With the 20 gm limit in mind, you will be astounded at the number of single servings that contain that amount or 30, 40, or more grams.

2.  Exercise stimulates bad cholesterol (LDL) to be returned to the liver where it can be excreted.

3.  Increase fiber intake.  Fiber binds with cholesterol (e.g. the LDL's your liver is excreting from your exercising) so that it will not be reabsorbed and put back into circulation.  I have had patients who went on very high fiber diets for a month and totally eliminated their high cholesterol problem.  This might hint that all high cholesterol is because of a lack of enough fruits and vegetables.
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4.  Lose Weight.  If you are overweight, losing the extra pounds will reduce the amount of cholesterol in circulation.

5.  Reduce Stress.  Prayer, meditation, hobbies, and exercise all help.  Stress creates the need for a lot more hormones.  The chemical backbone of most hormones comes from cholesterol, so stress tells the liver to make more cholesterol.  Cutting stress will cut down the demand for cholesterol and shut down the manufacture of it.
 
6.  Add plant sterols.  Plant sterols are plant-based mimics of the cholesterol your body produces.  The function to reduce cholesterol in two ways.  They bind with dietary fats in the stomach that contribute to cholesterol production.  Second they take the place of cholesterol in different receptor sites for cholesterol so it stays in circulation and is more likely to be picked up and excreted by the liver.  Plant sterols are in some butter/margarine substitutes (e.g. Smart Balance) as well as in supplements.

7.  Red Rice Yeast.  The Red Rice Yeast supplement contains natural forms of the statin medications.  It provides some of the same cholesterol-blocking power to suppress the liver.  It does have a far lower risk of creating side effects than the more powerful pharmaceutical medications.

So there are seven options for attacking your high cholesterol.  Share what works for you in the comments.

NatureWords for your health,
Dr. Mark