Never underestimate the destructive power of cholesterol. It could easily trigger a fatal stroke or heart disease. The essential aspect is that cholesterol is controllable. That includes leading a healthy life and getting the appropriate medical care. The right level of cholesterol can be maintained with prescript pills often combined with the power of medicinal herbs.
Nevertheless, there were studies which showed that a cholesterol treatment consisting of regular exercise, an appropriate diet and medicinal herbs can have a major influence on the LDL levels, managing to diminish or even totally avoid the intake of synthetic pills.
The triglyceride and LDL levels are known to be very efficiently influenced by natural remedies such as Gugulipid, Red Yeast Rice and Rooibos. At the same time, these plants manage to raise the level of good cholesterol or HDL. If you pay attention to your lifestyle and take advantage of the remedies nature has to offer, cholesterol will no longer be a problem.
Treating Cholesterol in a Conventional Way
Those who suffer from cholesterol problems get to be more and more numerous. Usually, they get to be treated with statins which represent a synthetic drug class conceived by the pharmaceuticals giants to fight atherosclerosis and especially high cholesterol.
In order to manage a reduction of the bodys capability of synthesizing cholesterol, statins are prescribed to patients affected by this kind of problem.
The drawback concerning these drugs refers to the fact that they are not able to make a difference between the “good cholesterol or HDL, and the “bad cholesterol, also known as LDL. In addition, they tend to affect the L-Carnitine and Co-enzyme Q10 levels and this is actually another important drawback because these two molecules help with the production of energy in the body and they are also crucial for the fat metabolism.
A treatment with such drugs must be permanently supervised by a doctor because there have been cases when the ingestion of statins was associated with tumors of the liver, lungs or stomach and myalgia.
Controlling the levels of cholesterol in your body is highly essential in order to avoid possible strokes or heart disease.
Interesting Information about Fats
- We can all hear everyone saying how bad fats are for our cholesterol and health in general, how important it is to eliminate them from our diet. This is quite a challenge due to that fact that all those appetizing foods are full of fats. What fewer people know is that fats are actually indispensable for the human body.These fats are extremely vital for the good state of the cell membranes, nerve transmission, production of hormones as well as nutrient absorption, but only consumed in a certain quantity. If that quantity is surpassed, conditions like cholesterol problems, heart disease, obesity and even cancer are likely to appear.
- There are two types of fats: good and bad. The good ones are composed of polyunsaturated or monosaturated fats, whereas the bad ones, who are also responsible for the cholesterol problems, are trans and saturated fats.
- It is essential to know that all food of animal origin (eggs, dairy, meat) contains significant quantities of saturated fats. In the same category we should include certain products from the sea (shell fish). There are also plants which are bad for our cholesterol: palm oil, palm kernel oil and coconut oil.
- One of the most dangerous kinds of fats are the trans fats or trans fatty acids, which are the result of chemically conducted oil hydrogenation. Such fats are the number one enemies of cholesterol.
- The aim of the hydrogenation process is to bring liquid oils into a solid state in order to prolong their life and stabilize their flavor. What is worse is that your favorite foods are likely to contain trans fats, therefore if you like snacks, cookies, crackers, margarines, French fries or any other sort of fast food, you should think about your cholesterol level whenever you feel like tasting them.
- The good fats however, or monounsaturated fats, ingested in reasonable quantities have a good influence on the cholesterol level, diminishing the bad cholesterol (LDL) but at the same time augmenting the good cholesterol (HDL). In order to benefit from these fats, you should have in mind the olive oil, canola, nuts.
- Another kind of oils that are able to reduce the bad cholesterol level are the polyunsaturated ones and they are present in foods like soy, sunflower oil, fish oil, salmon as well as grain products.
- There are brands of soft margarine or mayonnaise which contain such good fats, therefore select your food products wisely in order to avoid cholesterol problems.
How to Cope with High Cholesterol
- The first thing to do is to try to eliminate bad fats from your diet as much as possible. Instead, try to eat as much as 25g of good fats every day for your bad cholesterol to stay harmless. A good change consists of the increase of whole grains and veggies and the reduction of meat in your habitual diet. Always choose lean meat and products that have a small quantity of fats in their composition.
- Try to no longer use oils with a high content of trans and saturated fats, opting instead for olive oil, flax seed oil or canola oil, which all contain polyunsaturated and monounsaturated fats, good for your cholesterol. Margarines with pant-sterols are also safe due to their power to reduce the level of cholesterol.
- The following food products are good for your health: nuts, mostly almonds and walnuts, soy, lentils, beans, oat bran, oatmeal, sweet potatoes, carrots and all kinds of veggies, fruits, whole-grain, high-fiber foods, salmon, tuna and fish in general. Do not avoid dairy products as long as they are fat-free or at least low-fat.
- Foods that are bad for your cholesterol and health: cookies, muffins, crackers, doughnuts, pies, French fries, egg yolks, cakes and pastries, organ meats, shellfish meats and snacks, fried food, the majority of processed foods, dairy products rich in fat, ice cream, cream, butter, cream cheese.
- Try to have your cholesterol checked once every three years at the least, especially when there are other members of your family suffering from high cholesterol.
- Make an effort and give up smoking because it is bad for your heart, particularly when your cholesterol is high. By doing this you can avoid many unwanted complications.
- Take control of your excess weight. This is a very favorable ground for high cholesterol and, in order to do something about it, a wholesome diet is essential, as well as daily physical exercise. A program especially conceived for weight-loss may be extremely efficient. All it takes is a little determination!
- Remember that daily exercise works wonders for your body. It reduces your weight excess along with your bad cholesterol, helping at the same time with the raise of good cholesterol.
- With the exception of a couple of red wine glasses a day, which are said to help with the good cholesterol, alcohol is the enemy of health, increasing the possibility of developing heart problems.
