I've consistently had cholesterol levels over 240 over the last 25 years. I want to lower my LDL now that I'm older and possibly more prone to heart disease. Increased intake of soluble fiber is supposed to help lower cholesterol. It can have a little effect, but not much. It will definitely affect your digestive track and make it better. You need to make sure you are properly hydrated and that your adrenal glands are working well. The adrenals are responsible for keeping the water in your intestines.
Drug companies and doctors would have you believe that cholesterol is the problem with heart disease and that if you reduce your cholesterol intake from food, you will reduce your chances of getting heart disease. The real truth is that your body produces, on the average about 85% of all the cholesterol your body needs in the liver. Your diet only contributes about 15%, that is unless, your body senses that you are eating less cholesterol foods, then it increases it's production of cholesterol in your liver to compensate for the reduction in what you are eating.
Cholesterol is what repairs tissue. Your bile is made from cholesterol. This good cholesterol / bad cholesterol thing is so ridiculous. All cholesterol is good, it all has a purpose in your body. Do you actually believe that your body would make all that cholesterol if it were bad for you?
What happens is inflammation happens in your arteries and your body does what it is supposed to do and try to repair the damage by sending LDL cholesterol to the site. LDL cholesterol is a Low Density Lipid PROTEIN. It is a transporter. In fact, there are two main types of LDL cholesterol, the pattern 1 and pattern 2 types. The pattern 1 LDL is larger molecules than the pattern 2 type. It is the pattern 2 LDL cholesterol that gets lodged in the nooks and crannies of the INFLAMED arteries that oxidize (go rancid) and generate some problems. The HDL cholesterol (High Density Lipid PROTEIN) is the material that goes to the inflammation site and removes the LDL cholesterol that has done it's job and the HDL takes the LDL cholesterol back to the liver to be "RECONJUGATED!" So, it can be REUSED. Now why would the body do that if it were so bad for you?
The "ROOT CAUSE" of this issue is INFLAMMATION.
So, what does the medical industry do, they treat symptoms, so instead of fixing the real culprit, the tell you to reduce the cholesterol. Since most people have a very difficult time of doing this because the body is trying it's best to make up for the lack of cholesterol in the diet by making more, the drug companies come to the rescue. The make Lipitor. This makes the liver produce less cholesterol. And yes, you don't get as much build up in your arteries, but what about that inflammation issue? And without the necessary cholesterol to repair the tissue, what does the body do? The arteries just get thinner and you now become very susceptible to getting a STROKE! So what do the doctors do, they tell you that you have to watch your blood pressure. Why, because if it gets a little high, your artery could burst because it's not getting repaired.
This treating "symptoms" and not the "root cause" has generated huge revenues and profits for drug companies. In turn huge bags of money is being given to politicians to keep them in power to allow drug companies to get away with this insanity. Who do you think gives doctors scholarships and trips and perks to help them through medical school? Drug companies.
What you need to do is watch for a change in cholesterol numbers more than the total number. It's important to identify ALL infections in the body and inflammation. If you focus on fixing those issues, the body will take care of the cholesterol issue. If you focus on the symptom, cholesterol, your health will be greatly diminished and you will end up being a drug taking, unhealthy, dying younger than designed person and joining the statistics of the majority of Americans.
I strongly suggest you seek out a Certified Nutritional Therapist that can test you for specific deficiencies and take all the guess work out of wondering what nutrients you need. Then they can suggest a diet specific to you and maybe supplements with exact dosages to what your body needs.
It's not easy to be healthy in America today.
good luck to you Psyllium husk is mostly used for INSOLUBLE fiber. You are looking for SOLUBLE fiber, found in Psyllium Seed, Apple Pectin, Oat Bran. Here's a chart w/ some food sources: http://www.nhlbi.nih.gov/chd/Tipsheets/s...
If you prefer a supplement, may I suggest FiberSmart by Renew Life? http://www.renewlife.com/Fiber/FiberSMAR... It is made from Flax and Guar, plus probiotics and is a little easier to handle than psyllium, which can cause cramping & gas. Also start adding the supplement gradually, and work up to the recommended dose over about 30 days.
Also helps to eat Lecithin granules and (believe it or not) an apple every day. It certainly helps a bit but you may need some other natural remedies as well as each one helps a bit.
Other natural remedies include oats, fish oil, garlic oil and many others that you can find in a web search for "high cholesterol" + "natural remedies". |
