You have decided that formulating a plan for reducing cholesterol naturally is something you should do.
Perhaps, your lipid profile has once again shown your cholesterol to at unhealthy levels, or maybe someone close to you has experienced a major coronary event.
After all over one million adults have heart attacks each year in the United States alone.
Whatever the reason it is great that you have decided that now is the time to start reducing cholesterol naturally.
But the next question is where do I start? For me the best place to start for reducing cholesterol naturally was to gain a better understanding of cholesterol which in turn helped me gain a deeper understanding of what I was really trying to accomplish.
The basics of cholesterol There are four basic categories of cholesterol.
They are LDL (bad cholesterol), HDL (good cholesterol), triglycerides (early stage bad cholesterol), and total cholesterol.
Your goal should be to bring LDL (bad cholesterol) down to around 100 but no higher than 130; HDL should be between 50 and 60; triglycerides around 150; and total cholesterol around 200.
Ideas for reducing cholesterol naturally We should get triglycerides out of the way first since one of best way to ratchet these fat laden molecules down to size is by supplementing your diet with from 700 to 900 mg of the omega 3 essential fatty acids DHA and EPA daily in the form of an affordable fish oil supplement.
Consuming 2 or 3 four ounce serving of baked cold water fish weekly will accomplish this as well.
Staying active by exercising 5 or more times a week will help also.
When it comes to LDL (bad cholesterol) the type of fat consumed matters.
Saturated fat is by far the most dangerous to heart and artery health.
Saturated fats are solid at room temperature and are found in abundance in coconut oil, full fat dairy products, egg yolks, organ meats, sweetbreads, luncheon meats, artificially hydrogenated vegetable oils and numerous other both canned and fresh products.
Becoming an expert label reader when doing your grocery shopping is perhaps the best defense against high saturated fat foods.
Our goal will be to reduce saturated fat intake to 10 percent daily.
If you are super motivated lowering saturated fat intake to 7 percent daily would likely speed up your results.
Additionally, soluble fiber should be added to your diet.
Soluble fiber abundant in oat meal and oat bran absorb cholesterol in the intestines thus sending it out the old escape hatch, never to be seen again.
Our final group of ideas deal with HDL (good cholesterol).
Some believe that all that is needed for cholesterol levels to be heart healthy is LDL molecules outnumbering HDL by a ratio of 2 to 1 or less.
For example if your HDL is 60 and your LDL is 120 you are a very heart healthy range, barring any additional risk factors.
While there are numerous ways of reducing cholesterol naturally there are very few ways to increase HDL levels.
On this short list would be exercising at least 5 days a week, shedding those extra pounds, consuming dark skinned grapes, drinking a glass of cranberry juice daily, and in postmenopausal women taking a daily calcium supplement.
In summary, no it is up to you! Reducing cholesterol naturally is nothing fancy, just good old common sense plus a healthy dose of willpower.
For those who feel they need a little help in achieving their goals many have found natural cholesterol reduction supplements to be helpful and are an additional cholesterol lowering tool worth considering.
Perhaps, your lipid profile has once again shown your cholesterol to at unhealthy levels, or maybe someone close to you has experienced a major coronary event.
After all over one million adults have heart attacks each year in the United States alone.
Whatever the reason it is great that you have decided that now is the time to start reducing cholesterol naturally.
But the next question is where do I start? For me the best place to start for reducing cholesterol naturally was to gain a better understanding of cholesterol which in turn helped me gain a deeper understanding of what I was really trying to accomplish.
The basics of cholesterol There are four basic categories of cholesterol.
They are LDL (bad cholesterol), HDL (good cholesterol), triglycerides (early stage bad cholesterol), and total cholesterol.
Your goal should be to bring LDL (bad cholesterol) down to around 100 but no higher than 130; HDL should be between 50 and 60; triglycerides around 150; and total cholesterol around 200.
Ideas for reducing cholesterol naturally We should get triglycerides out of the way first since one of best way to ratchet these fat laden molecules down to size is by supplementing your diet with from 700 to 900 mg of the omega 3 essential fatty acids DHA and EPA daily in the form of an affordable fish oil supplement.
Consuming 2 or 3 four ounce serving of baked cold water fish weekly will accomplish this as well.
Staying active by exercising 5 or more times a week will help also.
When it comes to LDL (bad cholesterol) the type of fat consumed matters.
Saturated fat is by far the most dangerous to heart and artery health.
Saturated fats are solid at room temperature and are found in abundance in coconut oil, full fat dairy products, egg yolks, organ meats, sweetbreads, luncheon meats, artificially hydrogenated vegetable oils and numerous other both canned and fresh products.
Becoming an expert label reader when doing your grocery shopping is perhaps the best defense against high saturated fat foods.
Our goal will be to reduce saturated fat intake to 10 percent daily.
If you are super motivated lowering saturated fat intake to 7 percent daily would likely speed up your results.
Additionally, soluble fiber should be added to your diet.
Soluble fiber abundant in oat meal and oat bran absorb cholesterol in the intestines thus sending it out the old escape hatch, never to be seen again.
Our final group of ideas deal with HDL (good cholesterol).
Some believe that all that is needed for cholesterol levels to be heart healthy is LDL molecules outnumbering HDL by a ratio of 2 to 1 or less.
For example if your HDL is 60 and your LDL is 120 you are a very heart healthy range, barring any additional risk factors.
While there are numerous ways of reducing cholesterol naturally there are very few ways to increase HDL levels.
On this short list would be exercising at least 5 days a week, shedding those extra pounds, consuming dark skinned grapes, drinking a glass of cranberry juice daily, and in postmenopausal women taking a daily calcium supplement.
In summary, no it is up to you! Reducing cholesterol naturally is nothing fancy, just good old common sense plus a healthy dose of willpower.
For those who feel they need a little help in achieving their goals many have found natural cholesterol reduction supplements to be helpful and are an additional cholesterol lowering tool worth considering.