subject: Tips on How to Lower Cholesterol [print this page] Tips on How to Lower Cholesterol Tips on How to Lower Cholesterol
How to lower cholesterol in the bloodstream varies from one individual to the next. We get some from the foods that we eat, about 20%, and our bodies produce the rest. Only you can determine what you need to do. Here's a little Q&A that should help you figure that out.
Do you drink too much alcohol? The OL in the word is there because it is a waxy, fatty alcohol. It was first identified as a component of gall stones. Understandably, people with gallstones often have high blood levels of cholesterol.
Does your daily fat intake amount to more than 30% of your daily caloric intake? Fat or fatty acids are also components of the substance. Some fatty acids are essential. Specifically, they are the polyunsaturated omega-3 and 6 fatty acids.
Saturated fat is not essential. Trans-fatty acids are unnatural and should not be consumed by human beings, end of story. If what you are about to eat contains partially hydrogenated vegetable oils, then it will clog your arteries, because the human body cannot break it down efficiently. It spends too much time in the bloodstream as a result.
Do you eat a lot of simple carbs? If so, then how to lower cholesterol, in your case, could be to cut back on baked potatoes, pasta, white rice or sugar. There are other simple carbohydrates; those are just some of the ones that we like best.
Simple carbohydrates cause increased secretion of insulin. Insulin causes increased activity of an enzyme called HMG Co A reductase, which is an essential component in the pathway by which LDL particles are produced. LDL is sometimes referred to as "bad" cholesterol. Ideally, blood levels of LDL should be below 100 for most people.
Do you eat soy or rice bran oil? If not, eating those things might be how to lower cholesterol in your case.
As long as they are not partially hydrogenated, soy and rice bran oil are "good" fats. If you eat those good fats, there will be an increase in HDL particles, which are larger and denser than the LDL particles. The HDLs cannot get stuck in the lining of the arterial walls. So, they cannot contribute to heart disease.
Do you drink black or green tea? Black teas contain theaflavins. Green tea leaves contain catechins. Both antioxidants are beneficial, in that LDL particles are only dangerous if they become oxidized. In addition, theaflavins and catechins have been shown to increase HDL particles and decrease LDL.
Do you take a good dietary supplement? In most cases, taking a good dietary supplement is how to lower cholesterol levels, because it is virtually impossible to include the best foods in your diet every day.
For example, policosanol is only found in raw sugar cane, which is probably not something that you munch on regularly. D-limonene is found only in the peels of citrus fruit. Most of us peel our grapefruits before we eat them.
A lot of people have found that how to lower cholesterol is to take a supplement containing all of the "good" ingredients mentioned here. It could work for you, too.
