Lowering Cholesterol Naturally

Lowering LDL cholesterol is actually more important than lowering your total cholesterol level.  Why?  Because LDL cholesterol is the “sticky kind” that leads to blocked arteries.

Something important to note is that you can have a total cholesterol reading under 200, but still you could have high levels of LDL.

Instead of going the route of statin drugs, let’s look at some other ways to lower cholesterol naturally.

Foods to Avoid – High Cholesterol

Food high in saturated fat is certainly a risk factor for developing both high triglyceride and cholesterol. So reducing the amount of saturated fat in your diet is a key factor in lowering cholesterol naturally.  Therefore, limit your consumption of saturated fat foods; some include:

• Fatty red meats
• Foods with trans-fats
• High-fat and high sugar foods like full-fat ice cream.

But what about eggs?  For years they were shunned due to high amounts of cholesterol, but the thinking has changed.  If the chickens are fed a diet of corn and grain, they lay eggs containing heart healthy omega-3 fatty acids.  But “factory raised” chickens tend to be missing the omega-3 component, and should be eaten sparingly.

Cholesterol Lowering Food

Cholesterol lowering food is easy to add to your everyday diet.  They don’t taste like cardboard, and contain all kinds of vitamins and minerals — in addition to lowering cholesterol naturally!  Here are some lowering LDL cholesterol foods.

• Fatty Fishes With Omega 3:  These are cold-water fish like salmon, mackrel, tuna and more.  But don’t fry the fish!  Grilling or broiling keeps from adding more oils to your diet.
• Nuts That Are Good:  Nuts that contain omega 3s are also great to add to your diet.  Walnuts and almonds lead the list, and are heart-healthy.  However, do keep track of how  much you eat — nuts tend to be rather high in calories.
• Green Leafy Vegetables:  Yes indeed, you should add plenty of deep green leafy veggies.  Think spinach salads, dark green lettuce, broccoli and such.  They contain essentials vitamins andminerals, in addition to something very important — fiber.
• Fiber — Your Friend:  Soluble fiber, found in things like apples, vegetables and whole grains, help to “trap” LDL.

These are all foods that you should be adding to your diet.

Lowering LDL Cholesterol

Any information on lowering LDL cholesterol isn’t complete without mentioning niacin.  This simple vitamin can do wonders for trapping and lowering the LDL.

Granted, you need to take higher doses of niacin than you find in your normal multi-vitamins, but there are plenty of companies that now produce the vitamin in amounts to give LDL cholesterol the boot!

(And it only costs pennies a day — niacin is really a deal.)

So to sum it all up, lowering LDL cholesterol is greatly helped by both including cholesterol-lowering foods, as well as taking a daily dose of niacin.  Here’s to your health, and lowering cholesterol naturally!

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