Consume More Unsaturated Fatty Acids
Unsaturated fatty acids such as monounsaturated fats bad cholesterol, improve good cholesterol, and prevent oxidation, increasing the risk of clogged arteries.
In one study, substituting polyunsaturated fatty acids for monounsaturated fatty acids reduced the oxidation of fats and cholesterol in the body.
Excellent sources of monounsaturated fatty acids include olive and olive oil, avocado, and tree nuts such as walnuts, almonds, hazelnuts, and pecans. See Healthy Fats For Vegans.
Dr Deborah Lee Dr Fox Online Pharmacy Shares Her Tips On How To Naturally Lower Your Cholesterol Levels Without Using Medication
Have you recently been told youve got a raised cholesterol level? This can come as a shock.
Having a raised cholesterol is serious as this increases your risk of cardiovascular disease strokes and heart attacks. However, heres some good news. There are many things you can do to lower your cholesterol levels and lower these risks.
Read on and find out how to lower your cholesterol levels naturally without necessarily resorting to medication.
What Are The Normal Values For A Cholesterol Test
The healthy values for your cholesterol levels are listed below.
| Total cholesterol |
Your doctor will advise you on about how much you should aim for, when trying to lower your cholesterol. Below are listed the main ways you can lower cholesterol without needing medication. Unfortunately, this will not be sufficient for some people, who may still require statins, but much can be achieved by a natural approach.
Don’t Miss: Beer Effect On Cholesterol
Home Remedies To Naturally Reduce Cholesterol
In this post we’ll discuss 15 home remedies to naturally reduce cholesterol and lower the risk of heart attack, the role of cholesterol in the body, and side effects of statin medication.
Under the new guidelines issued by the American Medical Association, roughly 1/3 of all adults should consider taking cholesterol-lowering statin drugs to control their cholesterol levels.
Many healthcare practitioners feel that statin medications are overused in the United States. Statins may cause serious side effects, which I’ll get to in a bit.
Also, 50% of people who die suddenly from heart attacks do not have high cholesterol.
Note: Please check with your doctor if you are on any prescription medications. Some foods and supplements may interfere with certain medications. This post is for general information only.
Contents
Home Remedy For Lower Cholesterol #9 An Apple A Day Really May Keep The Doctor Away
My grandmother Catherine always loved to say, an apple a day keeps the doctor away. It turns out she was probably right.
A 2011 study by researchers from Florida State University found that older women who ate apples every day reduced LDL cholesterol levels by 23% within six months and increased HDL cholesterol levels by 4%.
The apple eating women also lost an average of 3.3 pounds.
Don’t Miss: Mussels And Cholesterol
Consider Plant Sterols And Stanols
Multiple types of supplements show promise for managing cholesterol.
Plant stanols and sterols are plant versions of cholesterol. Because they resemble cholesterol, they are absorbed from the diet like cholesterol.
However, because parts of their chemistry are different from human cholesterol, they do not contribute to clogged arteries.
Instead, they reduce cholesterol levels by competing with human cholesterol. When plant sterols are absorbed from the diet, this replaces the absorption of cholesterol.
Small amounts of plant stanols and sterols are naturally found in vegetable oils and are added to certain oils and butter substitutes.
A research review reported that clinical studies show that taking 1.53 grams of plant sterols/stanols daily can reduce LDL concentration by 7.512%. Researchers said taking it with a main meal twice per day allows for optimal cholesterol-lowering .
Although research has established the cholesterol-lowering benefit of plant stanols and sterols, it has not yet proved that they decrease the risk of heart disease. Numerous clinical trials have suggested that plant sterols supplements and enriched foods may lower heart disease risk, but hard data is still lacking .
summary
Plant stanols and sterols in vegetable oil or margarines compete with cholesterol absorption and reduce LDL by up to 20%. They are not proven to reduce heart disease.
Will A Keto Diet Lower Triglycerides And Cholesterol
No, keto diets have been shown to increase cholesterol levels. The Mediterranean diet, however, has been shown to lower cholesterol levels and reduce the risk of cardiac events.
The Mediterranean diet promotes eating vegetables, fruits, whole grains, and healthy fats daily eating fish, poultry, beans, and eggs weekly reducing portions of dairy and limiting red meat.
Recommended Reading: Shrimp Has High Cholesterol
How Long Does It Take To Bring Cholesterol Down
In general, if your cholesterol levels dont pose an immediate risk of heart attack or stroke, your primary care physician will give you three months to bring your cholesterol down to normal or near-normal levels naturally. How long it takes for you depends on a whole slew of factors, including your level of overall health, your genes and biology, how high your cholesterol is, and your sexit typically takes women longer to see changes than men.
Although these are things you cant change, in many cases, high cholesterollike many health conditions and chronic diseasesis largely the result of three overarching lifestyle factors: diet, exercise, and stress management. How quickly you can lower your cholesterol is highly dependent on the choices you make in these areas.
Limit Saturated Fats And Eat A Well
If your cholesterol is too high, you’re at greater risk of heart disease and stroke.
Saturated fats are usually hard, solid fats, Campbell said. They are found in fatty meats and fats such as butter, lard, palm oil, coconut oil, cream, pies, and pastry.
Campbell recommends minimizing these and eating healthier fats such as rapeseed oil, olive oils, oily fish, nuts, seeds, and avocado.
Eating a well balanced, fiber-rich diet including plenty of fruit, vegetables, beans, pulses, and whole grains can help manage cholesterol. Oats are also beneficial because they contain a substance called beta glucan which “mops up” cholesterol and reduces its absorption, Campbell said.
Maintaining a healthy body weight and being physically active also helps keep cholesterol levels in check, but genes play a role too, Campbell said.
Campbell shared seven meals that can help lower cholesterol levels, from red chili and bean soup to cauliflower dal.
Recommended Reading: How Much Cholesterol In Crab Legs
Stress Sleep And Cholesterol
Research shows that too much or too little sleep has a negative effect on your cholesterol levels. One study found that sleeping less than five hours or more than eight hours per night raised triglyceride levels and lowered good HDL levels in women. Another study, published in the Journal of Cardiovascular Nursing, found that people who sleep fewer than six hours each night have a greatly increased risk for cardiovascular disease. The researchers also found that snoring is linked to lower levels of beneficial HDL cholesterol.
Stress is a well known risk factor for insomnia and other sleep problemsand poor sleep contributes to stress by leaving you feeling fatigued, irritable, unmotivated, and unable to concentrate. Reducing your stress can improve your sleep, and improving your sleep can help reduce your stress.
For many people with high cholesterol, stress leads to unhealthy habits that can be very difficult to breakeven when youre facing health problems because of them. Our guide to managing stress and quitting vices has practical and actionable tips to help you lower both acute and chronic stress, quit smoking, cut down on alcohol, and sleep better.
Lower Ldl Levels Are Better
In a JAMA editorial accompanying the study, Christopher P. Cannon, MD, of Brigham and Womens Hospital and Harvard Medical School wrote that aggressive LDL lowering is the ideal lower is better.
The JAMA studys findings echo those of another large 4,162-patient study, published in the New England Journal of Medicine. It concluded that LDL cholesterol levels of 62 were even better than levels of 95 at preventing death, heart attacks, and other cardiovascular-related problems in people with heart disease.
Also Check: Does Shellfish Have High Cholesterol
Foods That Help Lower Your Cholesterol
From chocolate and red wine to beans and legumes, food and drink can help you get your cholesterol levels down.
My patients often ask me if there are any foods that can help with reducing high levels of low-density lipoprotein cholesterol. This is the so-called “bad” cholesterol that can cause plaque to form in your coronary artery walls, increasing your risk of heart attack and stroke. My answer is a qualified “yes,” since high LDL can be the result of many factors, including poor genes, obesity, and lack of exercise. For this reason, not everyone will react to dietary changes the same way, and optimal LDL levels are different for every individual.
Cholesterol is a waxy, fat-like substance that your body uses to make hormones, vitamin D, and substances that help you digest food. At normal levels, its essential for health, but if the concentration in the blood becomes too high, LDL, the so-called “bad” cholesterol can build up in your arteries forming plaques that put you at risk for cardiovascular disease, including chest pain , heart attack, and stroke.
Frequently, too much LDL is the result of a diet rich in saturated fats and trans fats . Eliminating these foods from your diet is a good first step in improving your LDL. Then try adding some or all of the following LDL-lowering foods every day. If you’re already on a statin, dietary changes may help you reduce your dosage, but never reduce or stop taking a statin drug without first consulting your doctor.
Add These Foods To Lower Ldl Cholesterol
Different foods lower cholesterol in various ways. Some deliver soluble fiber, which binds cholesterol and its precursors in the digestive system and drags them out of the body before they get into circulation. Some give you polyunsaturated fats, which directly lower LDL. And some contain plant sterols and stanols, which block the body from absorbing cholesterol.
1. Oats. An easy first step to lowering your cholesterol is having a bowl of oatmeal or cold oat-based cereal like Cheerios for breakfast. It gives you 1 to 2 grams of soluble fiber. Add a banana or some strawberries for another half-gram. Current nutrition guidelines recommend getting 20 to 35 grams of fiber a day, with at least 5 to 10 grams coming from soluble fiber.
2. Barley and other whole grains. Like oats and oat bran, barley and other whole grains can help lower the risk of heart disease, mainly via the soluble fiber they deliver.
3. Beans. Beans are especially rich in soluble fiber. They also take a while for the body to digest, meaning you feel full for longer after a meal. That’s one reason beans are a useful food for folks trying to lose weight. With so many choices from navy and kidney beans to lentils, garbanzos, black-eyed peas, and beyond and so many ways to prepare them, beans are a very versatile food.
4. Eggplant and okra. These two low-calorie vegetables are good sources of soluble fiber.
Recommended Reading: Is Mussels High In Cholesterol
Different Ways For Lowering Cholesterol
There are four major ways people lower their bad cholesterol: diet, exercise, supplements, and medications. The first three methods have no side effects while lowering LDL, but all will take time to work effectively, so patience is key!
Here we will break down seven completely natural ways that you can help lower your cholesterol levels.
Can I Use Vitamins To Lower My Cholesterol
The only vitamin that really lowers cholesterol is red yeast rice at 1200 mg twice a day, according to Dr. Cho.
The problem with red yeast rice is that it contains the same chemical compound as lovastatin, which means you would need to have your liver function monitored if you take it, she says. The Food and Drug Administration hasnt approved this supplement for medical use, so talk to your doctor before considering it.
All in all, you can lower your cholesterol naturally. Diet should be the cornerstone of therapy and pills are a supplement, not a substitute, for a good diet. Always talk to your doctor before taking any new supplements.
Recommended Reading: How Much Cholesterol In Mussels
How Does It Affect Our Health
LDL, or bad cholesterol, causes plaque to form in our arteries, which can lead to heart disease. HDL or good cholesterol transports excess cholesterol out of our bodies.
If you have high LDL and low HDL levels, you may be at higher risk for developing cardiovascular disease than someone with normal levels of both. For some people, these numbers are gene-related for others, they can be diet-related. Your doctor will test your cholesterol levels after a physical exam and review your family history.
Manage Your Stress Levels
Stress is one of your worst enemies when it comes to keeping cholesterol in check. Stress levels that stay high over a long period of time are associated with an increased risk for heart disease. To lower your LDL, you need a healthy lifestyle, and stress management is a huge part of that equation. See Why Is Stress Management Important.
When were stressed out, our bodies release hormones like cortisol and adrenalinehormones that cause blood pressure to rise and increase our appetite. This often causes us to indulge in unhealthy foods that also play a role in elevating our levels. So if you want to keep your cholesterol down, try taking some time every day for relaxation activities like yoga or meditation. Best Foods For Stress Relief.
Don’t Miss: For Cholesterol Testing Fasting Is Needing
You Can Begin To Reduce Your Bad Ldl Cholesterol Naturally By Making A Few Simple Changes In Your Diet
If your cholesterol is creeping upward, your doctor has probably told you that diet and exercisethe traditional cornerstones of heart healthcould help to bring it down. And if you’d prefer to make just one change at a time to lower your cholesterol naturally, you might want to begin with your diet. A major analysis of several controlled trials involving hundreds of men and women found that dietary changes reduced LDL and total cholesterol while exercise alone had no effect on either.
The people in the studies followed a variety of diets, from Mediterranean to low-fat to low-calorie. However, the most effective diets substituted foods with the power to lower cholesterol for those that boost cholesterol. According to Kathy McManus, director of the Department of Nutrition at Brigham and Women’s Hospital, eating with your LDL in mind doesn’t have to be an exercise in self-deprivation. While you may have to say goodbye to a few snacks and fast foods, you can replace them with others that are equally satisfying. “You don’t have to follow an all-or-nothing approach. It’s really a matter of common sense,” she says. She suggests a few ways to start getting your cholesterol under control and keep it normal.
To continue reading this article, you must log in.
- Research health conditions
- Prepare for a doctor’s visit or test
- Find the best treatments and procedures for you
- Explore options for better nutrition and exercise
How To Lower Cholesterol Naturally
One of the most important factors in maintaining a healthy heart and circulatory system is having low cholesterol levels in your bloodstream. An elevated cholesterol level has long been associated with an increased risk of coronary heart disease and other cardiovascular conditions, which can be life-threatening if left untreated. If youre worried about your cholesterol levels, these 10 tips on how to lower cholesterol naturally will help you bring it down to a safer level thats still healthy for you and your family.
Recommended Reading: Cholesterol In Tuna
What Are Normal Hdl And Ldl Levels
A healthy level should be less than 200 mg/dL for total cholesterol, less than 130 mg/dL for LDL, and greater than 40 mg/dL for HDL. If your levels fall outside that range, you might need medication or lifestyle changes to get them back into balance.
Exercise, weight loss if needed, and eating more fruits and vegetables can help reduce your risks. Even if youre not at risk now, its important to start monitoring your cholesterol early on to ensure youre living in the fullness of health.
Also, the ratio between HDL and total cholesterol is an important indicator of heart disease risk. The higher your HDL level compared with your total cholesterol level, the lower your risk for developing cardiovascular problems. You can calculate your own ratios using a simple formula: divide your HDL number by your total cholesterol number.
For example, if you have an HDL level of 60 and a total cholesterol level of 140, divide 60 by 140 to get 0.43. That means 43 percent of your total cholesterol is made up of HDL. This means that 57 percent comes from LDL or other types of bad cholesterol like VLDL or IDL.
Most people should aim for an HDL over 50 and a total cholesterol level under 200. Your doctor can help you determine what your ideal numbers should be based on your age, gender, and family history.
What About Drinks To Avoid
Now that you know what is best to drink, here are some of the drinks to avoid to maintain good cholesterol levels. Aim for drinks that are low in saturated fats and trans fats.
Drinks that are high in saturated fats are:
- coffee, tea, and drinks heavy on the cream, whipped cream, or creamer
- heavily coconut-based drinks
- ice-cream based drinks
It would be best if you also avoided sugary drinks since these can reduce your HDL cholesterol levels . Sugary drinks dont just mean soda, they can include sports drinks, energy drinks, and store-bought fruit juices so choose wisely.
Also Check: Are Oyster High In Cholesterol