High Cholesterol

 

 

High cholesterol – what is it?

When you have high cholesterol, it means you have excess cholesterol circulating in your bloodstream. This isn't a disease in itself, but it may lead to serious health problems, including peripheral vascular disease, coronary heart disease, and stroke.

 

What causes high cholesterol?

The three main causes of high cholesterol that you can't control are your:

• Genetics or family history;
• Age;
• Sex.

There are people that due to genetics or family history, have high cholesterol even though they're young in their 20's for example.
If your parents, grandparents, brothers, or sisters have high cholesterol, you and your children may be at risk. All family members should consider being tested.

Women have a lower rate of high cholesterol, since before menopause they have lower cholesterol levels than men of the same age. However, as the women get older, their blood cholesterol levels rise until about 60 to 65 years old. After the age of 50, women often (but not always) have higher total cholesterol levels than men of the same age.

 

There are four secondary causes of high cholesterol, which with some discipline you can avoid.

• Weight.
  Excess weight tends to increase you LDL (bad) cholesterol level. If you are overweight and have high cholesterol levels, losing weight may help you lower it. Weight loss also helps to lower triglyceride levels as well as raise HDL (good) cholesterol levels.
• Diet
  Diet is the most important of the secondary causes of high cholesterol, which affect almost everyone.
  Remember that the liver produces all the necessary cholesterol needed by the body. As such, it is not necessary to get additional cholesterol from food. Foods to consume without fear are fruits and vegetables. Limit as much as you can animal and dairy products.
• Alcohol.
  Alcohol is "good" because it increases HDL cholesterol (the good one). However, it does not decrease the bad or HDL cholesterol. Plus, drinking too much alcohol damages the liver and heart muscle, leads to high blood pressure and raises triglyceride levels.
• Smoking.
  Smoking reduces your good or HDL cholesterol and is linked to about 20% of deaths from heart disease.

 

How is high cholesterol diagnosed?

The only way to know whether you have high cholesterol is to have a simple blood test. Experts recommend that healthy adults have the test at least every five years. You may need to be tested more often, depending on your age and other factors.

 

How lifestyle changes help lower cholesterol?

Your lifestyle -- what you eat and drink, how much you exercise, and habits such as smoking -- can contribute directly to high cholesterol and heart disease. Conversely, positive lifestyle changes can help lower your cholesterol.

Talk to your doctor about what steps you can take to lower your cholesterol and your risk of heart disease. He or she may recommend:

• Diet
• Exercise
• Stress reduction

Diet
Eating healthy can lower your cholesterol, help you lose weight and lower your risk of developing heart disease. In fact, research has shown that lowering the cholesterol and saturated fat in your diet can help lower your total blood cholesterol and LDL levels up to 15% (amount varies). The best way to determine the cholesterol and fat content of the food you eat is to read food labels.

Your physician or a registered dietitian can also help you choose the best foods to eat. One's diet needs to be higher in fruits and vegetables (5 servings per day) and higher in fiber (bread, cereals, fruits and vegetables). Consider replacing butter with olive oil. Eat fatty fish twice per week (salmon, mackerel).

Exercise
According to the American Heart Association® Aerobic exercise can help you control your cholesterol, as well as lower your blood pressure and increase your physical fitness, energy, and self-esteem. It can also keep the weight off and increase HDL. Each person's fitness needs are different. Your needs will depend on your age, current health and health goals, so be sure to talk to your doctor before beginning any exercise program.

Stress reduction
Reducing and controlling stress is important for good health, but especially important for people with high cholesterol and heart disease. When under stress for long periods of time, the body reacts by constricting blood vessels, making circulation more difficult. Healthy ways to reduce stress include relaxation exercises, meditation, time management and a flexible attitude. If you feel stressed, try to figure out why and make changes where you can.

 

 

Dietary Supplements that help lower cholesterol

 

Squalene Health Benefits of Squalene include:

• Adaptogen ( Adaptation Syndrome )
  Squalene is non-toxic, 100% natural and has no side effects. Its beneficial action is not limited to a particular organ.
  If any, initial reactions result from toxins being released from the body.

• Cell-Invigorating
  Squalene revitalizes weakened body cells and helps revive cell generation. Its chief attribute is the protection it affords cells from oxidation reactions.
  The human body has about 6 billion oxygen reliant cells. Oxygenation promotes good health to the most basic level of life - the cell.
• Purifying
  Squalene helps clean, purify, and detoxify the blood from toxins, facilitating blood circulation. It cleanses the gastrointestinal tract and kidneys, causing better bowel movement and urination. Many diseases are cured if the blood is purified, a condition Squalene contributes to.
• Curbing of Bad Cholesterol
  Squalene is good cholesterol that is made up of high density lipid (HDL) which prevents the hardening of blood vessels and deposition of cholesterol plaques.

 

Omega-3 fatty acids are a form of polyunsaturated fats, one of four basic types of fat that the body derives from food. (Cholesterol, saturated fat, and monounsaturated fat are the others.) All polyunsaturated fats, including the omega-3s, are increasingly recognized as important to human health.

Scientists made one of the first associations between omega-3s and human health while studying the Inuit (Eskimo) people of Greenland in the 1970s. As a group, the Inuit suffered far less from certain diseases (coronary heart disease, rheumatoid arthritis, diabetes mellitus, psoriasis) than their European counterparts. Yet their diet was very high in fat from eating whale, seal, and salmon. Eventually researchers realized that these foods were all rich in omega-3 fatty acids, which provided real disease-countering benefits.

In particular, omega-3s in fish oil or other forms may help to:

Improve heart health. Omega-3 fatty acids have been shown to play a part in keeping cholesterol levels low, stabilizing irregular heart beat (arrhythmia), and reducing blood pressure. Researchers now believe that alpha-linolenic acid (ALA), one of the omega-3s, is particularly beneficial for protecting against heart and vessel disease, and for lowering cholesterol and triglyceride levels. An excellent source of ALA is flaxseed oil, sold as both a liquid oil and a semisolid margarine-like spread.

Omega-3 fatty acids are also natural blood thinners, reducing the "stickiness" of blood cells (called platelet aggregation), which can lead to such complications as blood clots and stroke.

Reduce hypertension. Studies of large groups of people have found that the more omega-3 fatty acids people consume, the lower their overall blood pressure level is. This was the case with the Greenland Eskimos who ate a lot of oily, cold-water fish, for example.

 

Krill Oil is being studied as a natural remedy for high cholesterol. In one study, 120 people were given krill oil, fish oil or a placebo. Krill oil reduced LDL (commonly referred to as "bad") cholesterol by 34% and increased HDL ("good") cholesterol by 43.5% compared to the placebo. In comparison, fish oil reduced LDL cholesterol by 4.6% and increased HDL cholesterol by 4.2%. Krill also lowered triglycerides.

 

Grape Seed Extract

• Strengthens and Repairs Connective Tissue
• Helps Patients With Multiple Sclerosis
• Helps Teeth and Gums
• Reduces Allergic Responses By Minimizing Histamine Production
• Enhanced Capillary Strength and Vascular Function
• Reduces Blood Pressure and Cholesterol Levels
• Helps Prevent Cancer
• Strengthens The Immune System
• Increases Peripheral Circulation, Improving Vision
• Reduction in Skin Aging and Loss of Elasticity

 

Bee Propolis may also helps lower blood lipid and cholesterol levels as well as lower blood pressure. Some suggest that propolis improves energy and endurance in athletes. 

 

Garlic oil has benefits for the immune system, when suffering from infections and colds, for heart disease and blood pressure regulation.

 

Royal Jelly Extract

• Enhance immunity
• Prevent arthritis and multiple sclerosis
• Treat asthma
• Slow the signs of aging
• Stimulate hair growth
• Improve sexual performance
• Reduce symptoms of menopause
• Accelerating the healing and consolidation of fractured bones
• Lower cholesterol
• Alleviate cardiovascular ailments
• Remedy liver disease, pancreatitis, insomnia, fatigue, ulcers, and digestive and skin disorders
• Reduce tiredness and overwork, asthenia, anxiety states, insomnia and anorexia.