Foods, fitness, and herbal medication
to lower cholesterol naturally!
Why don’t we doctors talk with our patients about how to lower cholesterol naturally? I can think of several reasons, but none of them is a very good excuse. Not enough time in a busy office? Maybe. Doctors in general don’t get much education about natural approaches compared to prescribing medications? Certainly. Doctors don’t believe that their patients are motivated, intelligent or strong enough to carry through on those necessary lifestyle decisions? Ooooh… that hurts. I hope that’s not it. Doctors should know better and not act so superior.
Because I know that if you are reading this, you ARE motivated, intelligent, and able to carry out the lifestyle commitments, whatever it takes, to lower your cholesterol naturally. And the goal of my holistic medicine practice is to empower my patients to choose the best natural remedies. That’s why we are here right now. Your heart is worth it.
This would be a really good time to review some central concepts about cholesterol. To say you want to learn how to lower cholesterol naturally is really way too simple to be a useful medical goal. If we were in my office together, we would be talking about “lipids,” of which cholesterol is only one. And there are different types of cholesterol, some of which should be low and some of which should be high for best heart health. Here’s a simplified list of my goals for your lipid values for optimum heart health:
• LDL-cholesterol under 100
• HDL cholesterol over 50 for men or over 55 for women
• Triglycerides less than 150 (make sure this test is done in fasting state)
What are some natural strategies for getting those numbers in line?
Lowering LDL cholesterol can be done by limiting the amount of saturated fat in the diet (meat and dairy), and by eating 4 meals per week of legumes (beans) instead of meat, and getting plenty of soluble fiber in the diet from such foods as oats and other fruits and vegetables.
HDL cholesterol can be effectively raised by regular physical activity, by eating oily fish (such as Wild Alaskan salmon, sardines, Atlantic Mackerel), by drinking wine (at most 2 drinks per day for men and 1 for women), or taking fish oil capsules. By the way, if you do not already drink I don’t recommend starting for this reason alone. Alcohol has its own set of hazards.
Triglycerides are lowered by fish oil, and most especially by limiting sugars and refined carbohydrates in the diet (think bread and other products made with flour). Keeping muscles metabolically active also helps normalize triglycerides.
Correcting these lipid numbers is a very important step in the prevention of heart attack and stroke (brain attack), and I hope you have seen there are many powerful options to lower cholesterol naturally.
But this is only the beginning, and I want you to be aware of theadvanced cardiovascular disease risk factors which can be measured and treated as well, hidden causes of heart attack which are frequently overlooked by patients and doctors alike.
So for your heart’s sake, keep reading! And take action today… you are worth it!
for your health,
Robert Pendergrast, M.D.
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