Ready to wage war on your cholesterol levels?  Is prevention your goal?  Wheel your grocery cart into the produce section. 

How exactly is cholesterol related to heart disease?  As cholesterol builds up on artery walls, it leads to narrowing of the arteries, which can eventually cause a blockage.  Blocked arteries prevent oxygen from reaching the heart, resulting in a heart attack.  So, even someone without "heart disease" (there are many types) can die suddenly from a heart attack, due to the build up of bad cholesterol. Let's concentrate on cholesterol.

The most important thing you can do to prevent cholesterol problems is to move toward a plant-based diet and avoid eating a lot of animal fat, especially beef.  Cholesterol is only found in animal foods and is not found in plant foods.  I have seen many people with cholesterol problems actually reverse their condition by making this change alone.  One man in particular deserves mention.  He completely fixed his cholesterol in four months by eating a vegetarian diet -- that's after forty years of eating a high-meat diet and suffering with cholesterol problems.

Plant food is high in fiber and beneficial fats, which have been shown to reduce cholesterol problems.  High-fiber foods, such as whole grains, fruit, vegetables and legumes, move cholesterol through the arteries.  Some particularly good foods to try are oat bran, rice bran and oatmeal.  Just one bowl of oat bran or oatmeal a day can lower cholesterol by as much as 23 per cent.  Even those who have had cholesterol problems for years can often reverse the disease by altering their diets.

Cholesterol problems also occur when people start eating prepackaged food that is high in sugar; bad fats, called hydrogenated fats; and refined grains where all of the fiber and much of the nutrients have been removed.

Prior to the age of the prepackaged food, cholesterol problems were much fewer.  Caffeine, another modern habit, also raises cholesterol.

So what exactly is cholesterol?  To start with, there is good cholesterol and bad cholesterol.  The good one is called HDL cholesterol (high density lipoprotein) and the ad one is called LDL cholesterol (low density lipoprotein).  Only high levels of the bad cholesterol is actually a problem.  The good cholesterol should actually be raised to prevent disease.  Why?  Good cholesterol is carried to the liver where it is broken down and eliminated, while bad cholesterol remains in the body where it can do damage to artery walls.  And that is why it is so important to raise the good one and lower the bad one.  Good cholesterol will rise as you lower bad cholesterol, through dietary changes including a high-fiber diet and eating good fats instead of bad, and through exercise.

For those who may need a little additional help beyond diet to lower cholesterol, there are a number of very effective and safe nutrients that help to rebalance the good and bad cholesterol, ending cholesterol problems.

Red Rice Yeast

Red rice yeast has been used in China for centuries, both safely and effectively.  It is made by fermenting rice with yeast.  It appears to block the production of cholesterol by inhibiting the action of an enzyme.  Studies have revealed this new nutrient to be incredibly effective.  In two studies with people with high cholesterol, it managed to lower cholesterol by 20 to 23 per cent, LDL cholesterol by 31 per cent and triglycerides -- another one of those fats you want to keeep in control -- by 34 to 36 per cent; while raising HDL, good cholesterol, by 16 to 19.9 per cent.

Sugar Cane Wax Extract

Sugar seems an unlikely place for a hot new cholesterol nutrient to come from, yet it has done just that.

Why is this new nutrient so exciting?  Because it has been compared to just about every kind of cholesterol-lowering drug, and it has emerged undefeated.  In other words, sugar can wax extract is a reliable, safe and effective means of improving cholesterol ratios.  And it is safer, and at least as good or better, than the drugs.  Unlike the drugs, it does not  have serious side effects or dangers.

For example, sugar cane has been compared to the popular statin family of cholesterol drugs.  In 1996, it was compared to Lovastatin, and though the LDL lowering effect was similar, the herb outperformed the drug by raising the good HDL cholesterol by 17 per cent.  Lovastatin actually slightly lowered it.  Sugar cane wax extract can be expected to lower LDL cholesterol by 20 to 30 percent.

Sugar can works in many ways.  It helps to stop the production of cholesterol and increases the breakdown of LDL, or bad, cholesterol, while acting as an antioxidant to prevent the oxidation of LDL cholesterol.

Garlic

Garlic has been used by people all over the world to both prevent and treat heart disease.  Garlic offers many cardiovascular  benefits, including protection against stroke, heart disease, hypertension, atherosclerosis, maintaining the elasticity of the aorta and improving cholesterol ratios.

Since garlic also acts as an antioxidant, another way that it works is by preventing free radical damage to LDL cholesterol.  Healthy people who received garlic for two weeks had a 34 per cent lower susceptibility to having cholesterol damaged by free radicals than those who didn't receive garlic.

Gugulipids

Gugulipid is derived from the mukul myrrh tree.  It is the resin of the tree that is used for medicinal purposes.  Part of the resin, composed mainly of gugulsterones, has the most potent cholesterol lowering components.

Traditionally, gugul was used in Ayurvedic medicine to treat obesity and cholesterol problems.  Not only has research confirmed gugul's ability to safely and effectively lower cholesterol, it has proven it to e superior to cholesterol lowering drugs in that, while being at least as effective as the drugs, unlike the drugs, gugulipids have no side effects.

Gugulipids work by increasing the liver's ability to break down LDL cholesterol and by increasing the uptake of LDL cholesterol from the blood by the liver.  Not only do gugulipids lower cholesterol levels, they also prevent the development of atherosclerosis and aid in removing pre-existing plaque build up in the arteries.

Gugulipids also inhibit platelet aggregation and promote fibrinolysis (breakdown of insoluble protein caused by blood coagulation); helping to prevent strokes, and gugulipids prevent free radical damage in the heart and improve the heart's metabolism.

Inositol Hexaniacinate

This nutrient is a special form of vitamin B3. It is another remarkable natural cholesterol fighter. This vitamin lowers all of the bad types of cholesterol while raising the good cholesterol.

Ginger

The ginger plant is native to southern Asia.  It is the root of the plant that is used.  Ginger has a long history of use in China for numerous complaints of the digestive tract.  Modern day research has found ginger to be versatile herb, being used for numerous conditions.

Ginger is a powerful antioxidant, inhibits platelet aggregation, has cholesterol-lowering actions, and tones the heart.  It can lower cholesterol levels by preventing cholesterol absorption from the intestine and by increasing the excretion of cholesterol.

Ginger's ability to inhibit platelet aggregation has been shown to be so effective that it has been proven to be superior to garlic and onion extracts.  This amazing herb seems to act as a cardiotonic by increasing the uptake of calcium by the heart muscle.

Rosemary

Rosemary has as long history of use.  It contains calcium, magnesium, phosphorus and potassium, all of which are involved in balancing the fluids surrounding the heart.  The flavonoids in rosemary also strengthen capillaries.

Research has found rosemary to be a powerful antioxidant.  In fact, a recent study found it to be the most effective antioxidant when tested against 78 common spices. Its antioxidant properties prevent the harmful oxidation of cholesterol.  This powerful aid to circulation also stimulates bile, helping to prevent the absorption of cholesterol, and encourages its excretion.

Green Tea

Green tea is produced and consumed mainly in China, Japan, in a few countries in the Middle East and Africa.  The flavonoids in green tea are powerful antioxidants that reduce cholesterol and protect against cancer.

One study found that increased drinking of green tea led to decreased total and LDL cholesterol and increased HDL cholesterol.  It also lowered triglycerides.  Green tea also prevents blood clots, lowers hypertension and increases the body's ability to absorb vitamin C.

Don't forget that a healthy heart starts with a good diet.  Arteries do not get clogged overnight.  Adopt a healthful diet now, and enjoy a healthy, active life for years to come.

References:

1.    CASS study in in Circulation 1983, N Eng J Med 1984, Circulation 1990
2.    CASS and Veterans studies
3.    Am J Cordial, 1989
4.    Lancet, 1990
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7.    AM J Clin Nutr 62 Suppl, 1995
9.    N Engl J Med, 1993
10.  Lancet, 1984
11.   Br J Clin Pharmacol, 1997
12.   J Am Col Nutr, 1992
13.   Am J Clin Nutr, 1999, Cur Ther Res, 1997
14.   Rev CENIC Cicn.Biol
15.   Prostaglandins Leukotrienes Med, 1984
16.   British Medical Journal, 1995
 

Linda Woolven is a practising master herbalist, is certified in traditional Chinese medicine diagnosis and has her acupuncture degree.  Linda is the author of over 100 articles in magazines across North America; is the co-author of a monthly natural health newsletter and is a regular health columnist for the Windsor Star and the Toronto Star.