Actually, you can probably lower cholesterol better by regularly petting your cat than taking cholesterol drugs. And you'll avoid all these side effects.
- Tiredness and irritability,
- Muscle pain and weakness,
- Loss of memory and mental clarity,
- Liver inflammation, damage and abnormalities,
- Depletion of vitally important heart protection nutrients,
- And long term use can even lead to congestive heart failure.
How to Lower Cholesterol Naturally
These are the 7 steps you can take to lower cholesterol naturally. And if you follow all of them, you can count on a very high success ratio.
- Eat a healthy cholesterol lowering diet. Some fats help lower cholesterol, while others can raise it. So get your fats right. Reduce overall fat intake, avoid trans fats, limit saturated fats and replace "bad" fats with "good" fats, such as olive oil and those found in whole grains and omega 3 fish. High fiber foods also help lower cholesterol naturally. They decrease "bad" LDL and increase "good" HDL cholesterol.
- Do regular healthy physical activity. At least 30 minutes of exercise a day has been shown to decrease total cholesterol and improve "good" HDL cholesterol levels, while lack of regular physical activity can raise "bad" LDL cholesterol levels as well as lead to weight gain.
- Reach and maintain a healthy weight. Being overweight can decrease "good" HDL levels and increase "bad" LDL and total cholesterol levels. Learn the healthiest weight to aim for by calculating your BMI here.
- Eliminate sweets and refined foods. Few realize that eating sweets and other high glycemic foods increase triglycerides and cholesterol production. These foods are also addictive. Once you eliminate them, you'll find that fruits, vegetables and whole grains actually taste sweet.
- Cut out caffeine and alcohol – drink water. Both caffeine and alcohol have been shown to elevate cholesterol. So it's best to switch to pure water immidiately.
- Don't smoke or use tobacco in any form. Smoking damages blood vessels, contributes to hardening of the arteries and is a major health risk for heart disease, stroke and other degenerative diseases.
- Practice good healthy stress management. Just like cholesterol, a certain amount of stress is healthy – such as with exercise. But the link between excess stress and high cholesterol production is well established. So take time to relax, let go, meditate, enjoy yourself or do whatever it takes to keep your stress level under control. Source: unknown