Proven Natural Ways to Lower Cholesterol
It is believed that atherosclerosis is partly caused by high cholesterol. Atherosclerosis is commonly known as hardening of the arteries, which a danger sign for increasing risk of catastrophic diseases like stroke or heart attack. So, keeping your cholesterol levels under control is of paramount importance. There are several effective ways to lower cholesterol naturally including easy diet changes, stress reduction and natural cholesterol lowering supplements.
A low fat diet has been promoted heavily the last few decades as the most effective diet to lower heart disease risk. Current research does not necessarily support this idea. There are many doctors using a variety of different diets successfully to lower cholesterol and risk of heart disease.
While the low fat diet is not supported by research to be the only diet that can protect against heart disease, Dr. Dean Ornish is well known for his approach, which involves combining a low fat, vegetarian diet with stress reduction and increasing physical exercise. Don't worry if you're not thrilled with the idea of becoming a vegetarian. Other doctors advocate a much different dietary strategy. For example, Dr. Barry Sears developed a healthy non-vegetarian diet called the Zone Diet that is often considered to be one of many variations of the so-called "low carb diet."
A balanced ratio of carbohydrates, fat and protein is emphasized by Dr. Sears in the Zone Diet. Sr. Sears' diet has been described as "eating the way our grandparents ate." Many people report success in losing weight with a low carb approach, without having to count calories or going hungry. Along with healthy weight loss, many different health conditions have seen improvement, including reducing high cholesterol.
Cholesterol lowering vitamins are another tactic that works well with diet changes. Concerning dietary supplements, it pays to go with quality rather than basing your decision on cost alone. There's a lot of variation in the quality of supplements on the market, and it's common to see exaggerated claims without providing research to back them up.
Nutrients proven to be most effective at reducing cholesterol include, guggulipid, policosanol, green tea extract, tumeric and beta sitosterol. Many clinical research trials have shown these nutrients to be among the most effective available at this time. Guggulipid and policosanol are the most important nutrients to look for in a supplement.
There are many products currently on the market claiming to use policosanol, but many in fact are using an incomplete form of policosanol called octacosanol. Octacosanol will NOT give the positive results outlined in the clinical trials. The cholesterol lowering results apply ONLY to the genuine policosanol extracted from sugar cane wax which is produced in Cuba.
As you can see, doing some simple research before you choose a cholesterol health supplement can make a difference. Check to confirm that the manufacturer uses genuine policosanol. Also, check to see if the product has been properly tested for biological contamination and that it is produced in a GMP (good manufacturing practice) facility as well as meeting the U.S. and/or the British Pharmacopoeia standards.
These proven natural ways to reduce cholesterol can help you avoid the side effects and possible dangers of prescription medications. Of course, you may want to consult your health care provider before changing any medications you may be taking and before beginning any new supplementation program.
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