Tips to Naturally Lower Cholesterol!

If you’ve gotten high cholesterol results on a recent blood test, you may be wondering what you can do to naturally lower your numbers. The first thing you might be told, is to avoid foods with dietary cholesterol, like eggs. Many health myths come from a misunderstanding of how the body works. In the case of cholesterol, this is especially true.

 

Cholesterol, a fatty substance made mostly by our liver, is crucial for our body to function. It provides us with the ability to make hormones, digestive juices, and the outer lining of our cells. Contrary to popular belief, cholesterol is a good thing!

 

The problem lies in having more cholesterol in your bloodstream than you need, and whether it’s LDL (the ‘bad’ cholesterol) or HDL (the ‘good’ cholesterol).

 

The letters LDL and HDL are short for ‘low density’ and ‘high density’ lipoproteins, which refer to the ratio of protein to fat in the particles that carry cholesterol through our bloodstream. HDL has a higher ratio of protein to fat, whereas, not surprisingly, the LDL has more fat.

 

The LDL is responsible for carrying the cholesterol to where it’s needed in your body. But if there’s too much cholesterol, it will deposit it along the way, which can result in a build-up in arterial walls (which is why high cholesterol is a risk for heart disease). However, the HDL is responsible for cleaning up any extra cholesterol and returning it to the liver. This is why you want to raise your HDL levels and lower your LDL.

 

What’s important to understand is that your body moderates the amount of cholesterol it makes; if you take in some cholesterol from your diet, your body will make less of it. This means that having a reasonable amount of cholesterol in your diet doesn’t raise your cholesterol levels, unless you are part of a small number of people who have trouble metabolizing dietary cholesterol.

 

Eggs, for instance, which contain a good amount of dietary cholesterol, have not been shown to raise blood cholesterol levels. Moreover, the fat in eggs is made up of more unsaturated than saturated fat, which actually raises your HDL. Additionally, the egg yolk (which many people leave out since that’s where the cholesterol lies) contains most of the vitamins and minerals in the egg, like selenium, zinc, and vitamins A, D, and E.

 

If eating dietary cholesterol isn’t the main factor in raising unhealthy blood cholesterol levels, then what is responsible?

 

Surprisingly, eating sugar and refined flour has been found to be one of the top causes of high cholesterol, along with eating trans-fats, too much saturated fat, being overweight and under-exercised, smoking, and stress.

 

Here are my top ten diet and lifestyle tips to lower LDL (bad cholesterol), and raise HDL (good cholesterol):

 
1. Reduce sugar and refined flour in your diet. Choose whole grains and whole food instead, to make sure you’re getting plenty of natural fiber.

 

2. Don’t eat trans-fatty acids (found in fast food and many processed foods, margarine, and other hydrogenated vegetable oils). The FDA finally recognized trans fats as generally unsafe in 2015, and is allowing the transition for elimination from food products to extend until January 1^st, 2020. Until then, read your labels.

 

3. Reduce your meat intake (full of saturated fat), and make sure the meat you eat is high quality (i.e. grass fed as opposed to factory farmed, because it will be less inflammatory). Lean towards a plant-based diet.

 

4. Stop smoking.

 

5. Move your body; even moderate exercise will help.

 

6. Find ways to lower your stress. Make relaxation a priority in your life.

 

7. Eat plenty of healthy fats, like nuts and avocado (to raise HDL).

 

8. Take fish oil or eat fish that are low in heavy metals, like salmon (anti-inflammatory and raises HDL). If you’re vegan, eat plenty of chia seeds for the omega 3’s.

 

9. Drink green tea. The anti-oxidants help lower cholesterol.

 

10. Take steps to lose weight if you are at an unhealthy weight. The above tips will all help with this goal.

 

You may have noticed that it’s the same culprits over and over again that contribute to most disease and weight gain. Hopefully this should make your food choices feel easier!

Eating real, whole food is always the direction to lean.