Finding a Natural Cholesterol Fighter

Have you ever thought about a natural cholesterol fighter?

Often when people hear they have high cholesterol their first concern is that they are going to be on medication the rest of their lives, but that is not always the case.

Can you find something that will lower your cholesterol, and thus decrease your risk for heart disease, without becoming dependent on cholesterol-lowering medications?

Yes, you can!

Your primary cholesterol fighter is your diet.

Your body makes all the cholesterol it needs in its liver.

You may not realize that your body does need cholesterol to function:

• It is responsible for making hormones
• Processing Vitamin D
• Maintaining cell membranes and
• Creating bile acid to aid in digestion.

While your body needs it, too much of a good thing is, well, too much.

If you consume a lot of foods with cholesterol your level will be high and you will be at risk for heart disease.

So your natural cholesterol fighter is to ensure that your diet is not adding more cholesterol into your body.

There are several ways to do this.

First, it is important to understand that only animal products contain cholesterol; plant products naturally contain no cholesterol.

So limiting animal products, and increasing plant products is the first step in revamping your diet.

Some animal products contain more cholesterol than others.

Specifically you should avoid:

• Organ meats
• Egg yolks and
• Dairy products that are high in fat.

If you feel you need to keep animal products in your diet, try switching to:

• Skim milk
• Use low fat cheeses or
• Spreads, etc.

Some plant products act as a better natural cholesterol fighter than others.

Grains such as oats and legumes (peas or beans that grow in pods) may lower LDL cholesterol (which is the “bad cholesterol”).

Also, alfalfa sprouts and chickpeas contain saponins, which help cholesterol levels by encouraging your body to eliminate extra cholesterol, and garlic and onions contain allicin, also found to help cholesterol.

Another component found in foods that that can act as a natural cholesterol fighter is plant sterols.

These are found naturally in small quantities in most plant products.

They are especially present in:

• Vegetable oils (particularly soybean oil)
• Fruits
• Vegetables
• Seeds
• Nuts
• Legumes and
• Cereals.

Adding more of these foods to your diet may help you combat cholesterol.

Don’t feel that you are doomed if you do need to use medication to conquer your high cholesterol; this is especially true is high cholesterol runs in your family.

If you’ve tried to beat it using a natural cholesterol fighter then you’ve done what you can.

The important thing is that you reduce your cholesterol level so you can reduce your risk for heart disease.

Plus, if you have changed your diet to one that is designed to lower cholesterol, then you have switched to a heart-healthy weight loss diet which will benefit you in many other ways.

Being healthy includes many, many things.

In order to become healthy you need to follow a proven plan like the steps below.

• Incorporate a proven, complete nutritional program into your daily life.
• Enhance your nutritional program with a complete mutivitamin supplement because no nutritional program is perfect.
• Use a behavior modification and motivational program that will help you stay on track with your nutritional plan.
• Exercise at home with your own:
  Treadmill

  Stairstepper

  Exercise bike

  Elliptical trainer

  Hand weights or

  An aerobic video.

• See what kinds of weight loss aids your health insurance covers such as:
  Hypnotism

  Gym membership discounts

  Nutritional counseling.

Finding a natural cholesterol fighter is one, making time in your schedule to exercise is another and losing weight is yet another.

Combined they all make for a healthier, happier you!