How To Naturally Reduce Bad Cholesterol

Bad cholesterol is more commonly known as LDL and learning more about how to naturally reduce bad cholesterol is a topic of great interest to anyone interested in achieving artery and heart health. What is really exciting about taking a natural approach is that there are no side effects, such as nagging muscle pain and/or muscle cramps to contend with. Additionally, a recent study linked HMG CoA reductase inhibitors (statin medications) to an increased risk of diabetes. All the more reason to consider ways to naturally reduce bad cholesterol.

When talking about how to naturally reduce bad cholesterol the basic starting point for any all natural program is, without a doubt, watching what you eat. The AMA suggests no more than 10 percent of calories from saturated fat, and no more than 30 percent of calories from cholesterol. At first glance you may think that these benchmarks would be easy to achieve but if it was so easy very few would actually have elevated cholesterol levels and articles like this one wouldn’t be so popular.

In most cases it is artery clogging saturated fat that is the main culprit. Foods high in saturated fat include coconut oil, stick butter, fatty red meat, duck, goose, bologna, salami, sausage, egg yolks, organ meats, poultry skin, whole milk products, and many more.

While the list of high saturated fat foods is extensive there are many foods able to naturally reduce cholesterol. That’s right, foods containing soluble fiber actually help your body dispose of cholesterol through a binding process that occurs in the intestines. Foods high in soluble fiber that naturally reduce bad cholesterol are oat meal, barley, oat bran, apples, pears, beans, flax, pomegranates, and oranges.

While reducing saturated fat and eating more soluble fiber are two major steps in naturally reducing bad cholesterol they are by no means the only ones. Others include eating baked cold water fatty fish (albacore tuna, salmon) twice a week, having a glass of cranberry or grape juice daily, and shopping for foods containing cholesterol busting stanols and sterols.

On the other hand, smoking, obesity, and inactivity are three major risk factors for high cholesterol and if you are serious about achieving results these three factors will need to be discussed with your doctor and addressed appropriately.

What else should I know about how to naturally reduce bad cholesterol?

Lowering cholesterol, in most cases, is about changing old habits, adopting new healthier habits, and enlisting the help of convention medications such as statins or natural cholesterol reducing remedies if needed. Put simply, this basically means finding ways to increase HDL (good cholesterol) and decrease LDL (bad cholesterol levels). Certainly the aforementioned statin drugs will be one of your options but they do carry a number of serious label warnings. The side effect risks have made natural cholesterol reduction supplements combined with diet modification a safe and effective combination worth considering.

By: R.D. Hawkins

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R.D. Hawkins is an enthusiastic advocate for the use of natural health products and natural living with over 10 years experience in the field. Learn more about natural remedies and natural health at Purchase Remedies.com