To Your Health
January, 2009 (Vol. 03, Issue 01) |
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What's the Difference Between Total, LDL and HDL Cholesterol?
Your doctor wants to know several things about your cholesterol level, each of which indicate your risk level for heart attack and stroke. Total cholesterol comprises the total amount of cholesterol in your bloodstream when you total the amount found in VLDL, LDL and HDL (high-density lipoprotein). Total cholesterol should be below 3.9 mmol//L (150 mg/dL) or, at worst, 4.7 mmol/L (180 mg/dL). LDL cholesterol was covered in the previous section. HDL cholesterol is the "good" cholesterol, in that it is a carrier vessel that vacuums up the cholesterol in the artery wall and brings it back to the liver. Thus, high levels of HDL cholesterol help to protect you against heart disease. Being fit and at your ideal weight helps to raise HDL cholesterol.
How Can You Lower Cholesterol Levels Naturally?
Eat less saturated fat and trans fats: To lower your cholesterol, it is best to refrain from eating foods that are high in saturated fat and trans fats, as explained above. This means relying on chicken breast, turkey breast and fish as your main protein staples if you are not vegetarian. It also means not eating any milk or yogurt that is above 1 percent milk fat or any cheese that is above 3 percent milk fat. It means eliminating butter, ice cream, whipped cream and all other high-fat dairy products, and avoiding fried food and foods containing a lot of trans fats and palm or coconut oil.
Eat cholesterol-lowering fiber. You should also eat foods that drag cholesterol out of the body and have been shown to lower blood cholesterol by up to 25 percent. These foods include beans and peas (especially red kidney beans, chick peas and lentils), oat bran and oatmeal, psyllium husk fiber (2-3 teaspoons per day), ground flaxseed (2 tablespoons per day) and fruits containing pectin fiber (apples, peaches, pears, plums).
Consider supplementing with natural agents proven to lower cholesterol. Certain natural supplements aimed at lowering cholesterol contain gum guggul and artichoke leaf extract. Both of these natural agents have been used in human clinical trials to lower the bad cholesterol by up to 27 percent and triglycerides by up to 30 percent.
Gum guggul (or gugulipid) is derived from the mukul myrrh tree, which contains guggulsterones, the active constituent that accounts for its cholesterol- and triglyceride-lowering effects. Gugulipid was granted approval in India for marketing as a cholesterol- and trigylceride-lowering product in June 1986, due to its impressive efficacy and safety. Gugulipid has been shown to help the body clear excess cholesterol and triglycerides from the bloodstream.
Artichoke leaf extract contains active constituents that help flush cholesterol from the body via the fecal route. It increases the flow of cholesterol (and bile, which is a building block of cholesterol) from the liver to the intestinal tract. Human studies indicate that artichoke leaf extract alone can reduce LDL cholesterol (the bad cholesterol) by 23 percent.
Dosage: Take two capsules, two or three times per day (with meals) of a supplement that contains 500 mg gum guggul (standardized to 2.5 percent guggulsterones) and 200 mg artichoke leaf extract (standardized to 13-18 percent caffeoylquinic acids) per capsule. Speak to your health practitioner for more information about supplementation.
In some cases, prescription drugs may also be required to get cholesterol into the safe range. However, studies suggest that 90 percent of individuals with high cholesterol can reduce it into the ideal range using the nutrition, lifestyle and supplementation practices outlined in this article. Talk to your doctor for more information about cholesterol and drugless solutions.
James Meschino, DC, MS, practices in Toronto, Ontario, Canada and is the author of four nutrition books, including The Meschino Optimal Living Program and Break the Weight Loss Barrier.
