Lowering Cholesterol - The Natural Way
The idea of lowering cholesterol has been pretty much pounded into our "collective health psyche" for a long time now. Getting the blood test, understanding the HDL and the LDL, eating a low fat diet, and keeping that number under 200 has become standard health care in industrialized nations the world over. Of course, everyone knows that if your cholesterol is under 200 then you won't be clogging the arteries around your heart and having a heart attack… right? Well, maybe that isn't right. Here are some facts to consider. More than 1/3 of all people that have heart attacks have total serum cholesterol levels below 200. Cholesterol is an important part of and needed for the proper synthesis of every cell in your body. Cholesterol is one of the building blocks that the body uses to make certain hormones. Having high cholesterol does not cause clogging of the arteries in and of itself. The truth is that it is the oxidation of the LDL cholesterol in the body that starts the very complicated cascade of events that leads to the formation of plaques that eventually causes a clogged artery. Usually, the offending substances, the things that are oxidizing the LDL cholesterol, are heavy metal toxins that we pick up from our environment: the food we eat, the water we drink and the air that we breath. So, the first question should be… "Does it make sense to try to lower cholesterol levels?" I think the answer is yes, to a certain extent. It is clear that the more LDL cholesterol you have floating around, the more likely it is that it will get oxidized to start the chain of events that leads to clogged arteries. And this is a worthy goal. Of course, the next question is… "How does one lower cholesterol levels?" Ah, this is where the real controversy starts! The first thing the typical physician recommends to lower your cholesterol is to go on a low-fat diet. I have lost count of how many people I talk to who have had this experience. Most of you give it the college try and really behave, for a while. Then you go and get your cholesterol tested again and the number drops by maybe 15 points, if at all. Indeed, it is not too uncommon for people's cholesterol to go up when they eat a low-fat diet. Another interesting side effect of the "low-fat" diet is that usually the triglycerides will go up because in our society a low-fat diet usually means a high sugar diet. You must understand, and I can't stress this enough, an inflated cholesterol level is not about diet, it's about liver function. When the liver is not functioning properly or optimally, that is when the body has a tendency to show the symptom of high cholesterol. The next thing on the physician's list to is put you on one of the "statin" drugs (Mevacor, Lipitor, Pravachol, etc.) that lower cholesterol. Of course, if the physician is following proper established protocol then you now have to have your blood test every 3 to 6 months. And what is the doctor looking for in these new blood tests? Liver function… the statin drugs are toxic to your liver. The statin drugs also cause a depletion of CoEnzyme Q10, a very important nutrient for heart and liver function. This vital nutrient will be discussed in a future column. So… what are the best, and safest, ways to lower cholesterol? Here are a few ideas. But first, let me state that when it comes to health issues like this I think it is wisest to educate yourselves and use the advise of qualified health professionals that know you, your body, and the ramifications of all of the possible decisions you make. I would be disappointed if you took this information and just stopped taking any prescription medicine, including the statin drugs. What would excite me is if you read this column, begin to seek out all of the information available, begin to take responsibility for your own healthcare decisions, and find a healthier way to live a disease-free, pain-free life. Here are some simple ways to help lower cholesterol… Niacin had been shown to be the most effective substance at lowering cholesterol. However, niacin in high doses can be toxic to the liver and has a bothersome side effect of causing flushing in the face and neck. There is a form of niacin called Inositol Hexanicotinate, also known as "No-Flush Niacin" that is much safer and does not cause the bothersome flushing, as the name implies. I usually recommend 500mg three times daily. Tocotrienols are a group of compounds related to vitamin E that have been shown to help lower cholesterol by helping to modulate an enzyme in the body that helps synthesize cholesterol. I recommend a capsule twice daily of a potent tocotrienol formula, like the one made by Pure Encapsulations. Guggul is an herb from the country of India that has been shown by double-blind placebo controlled studies to be as effective as certain prescription medicines in lowering cholesterol without any worrisome side effects. It is important to make sure that you get 75mg of the guggulsterones (the known active ingredient of guggul) daily. Make sure you read the label carefully!! Garlic is an herb that has been shown through numerous studies to help lower cholesterol, be beneficial to heart health and lower blood pressure. Psyllium, taken twice daily as a fiber supplement, has been shown to help lower cholesterol levels, sometimes up to 20 points. I would postulate that normal bowel function and normal bowel transit time play an important role in liver function and preventing the reabsorption of cholesterol from the bile that uses the bowels as an exit from the body. It is important to note that different people have high cholesterol for different reasons. We also recommend supporting general liver function through the use of herbs like Milk Thistle and Dandelion Root. Also, taking a plant based digestive enzyme can be very important in not overloading the liver with the work of digestion, which allows it to get back to its other functions, including the proper modulation of blood cholesterol. Lastly, a discussion of proper liver function would not be complete without pointing out that the emotion of anger is tied to liver function. Invariably, my patients who have liver issues, which may range from indigestion to high cholesterol to Hepatitis C, have underlying (and sometimes not so underlying) unresolved anger issues from their past or present. The holistic approach to health dictates looking at all aspects of our lives and seeing a sign like having high cholesterol as a symptom of something deeper going on.
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