Natural Treatments to Lower Your Cholesterol Levels

By HelloLife

There are several ways you can naturally lower your cholesterol levels.Remember, for optimum health you will want a balance of high HDL's and low LDL's; exercise is generally the best way to increase HDL's and eating right can reduce harmful LDL's.Read on to learn more about natural treatments to lower your cholesterol levels.

Exercise

Excellent for lowering cholesterol, exercise increases the amount of HDL's in your bloodstream and decreases triglycerides. Because the main function of HDL's is the filter cholesterol and fat from the bloodstream, the more you have in your body, the better.The best way to do this is aerobic exercise that regularly burns 800-1200 calories per week.

Exercise can also reduce LDL levels, though it is not exactly clear how.Experts speculate that concurrent weight loss may be a factor.

Cholesterol response can vary individually however.You may notice little or no impact on your cholesterol levels for up to three months; give it time though, because it's usually just a slow process.Remember, you are undoing years of damage to your body; the American ideal of a quick fix simply won't apply here.

Soluble Fiber

While both soluble and insoluble fibers are vital to a healthy diet, studies have shown that soluble fiber actually attaches to cholesterol and eliminates it from the body.Food sources of soluble fiber include:

whole grains
oat and bran cereals
apples, oranges, plums
peas, potatoes, carrots
pinto beans, lentils, kidney beans

Reduced Intake of Animal Products

Most of the cholesterol in your body is actually made by your liver; the rest comes from your diet via animal products.Do what you can to reduce the cholesterol you add to your body by cutting back or eliminating these foods from your diet:

chicken and beef
some fish, especially shrimp, lobster and crayfish
milk and eggs

Inositol

A form of niacin, inositol is lipotropic, meaning one of its functions is to eliminate fatty tissues from the liver.Inositol is particularly helpful in lowering cholesterol and breaking up deposits in the arteries.Food sources of inositol include:

liver
peanuts
whole grains
cabbage
cantaloupe
raisins
grapefruit

Red Yeast Rice

Studies have concluded that red yeast rice dramatically reduces total cholesterol and LDL cholesterol.Red yeast rice has been used for medicinal purposes in China for thousands of years; you can find supplements in the U.S. too.

Sources:

http://health.msn.com/centers/cholesterol/articlepage.aspx?cp-documentid=100123957

http://www.fatfreekitchen.com/soluble-fiber-foods-list.html

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/sites/entrez?cmd=Retrieve&db=pubmed&dopt=AbstractPlus&list_uids=9989685&query_hl=10