4 Effective Ways To Naturally Lower Cholesterol Levels

Like it or not, food plays a large factor in raising or lowering your cholesterol levels. The foods you eat can either lower or increase your overall bad (HDL) cholesterol and this is very important. Of course, for severely high cholesterol levels that require immediate attention, it is usually best to consult a physician. Prescription medications are necessary to treat very high blood cholesterol quickly in order to prevent serious health consequences.

But while high cholesterol can be a serious and often life-threatening problem, it is often fairly easy to lower. The tips that follow will show that the old saying “you are what you eat”, still holds true.

Consuming oats can lower cholesterol greatly and has been proven to be effective. Oatmeal naturally sticks to bad cholesterol in your blood stream and removes it from the body. Even if you have eaten very unhealthy foods for many years and have chronically high cholesterol levels, oats can help to bring those levels closer to normal. This is probably the easiest way to lower your cholesterol naturally.

A second food that can be helpful to lower cholesterol is olive leaf. This plant which can also be used as an antibiotic, causes bad cholesterol to slip off platelets in blood vessels, preventing it from sticking to them and causing health problems like coronary artery clogging. Olive leaf also serves as a blood thinner. Despite all the benefits of this plant care should be taken if you are on any medications, as these could interact with it. Find out from your doctor.

Vitamins such as vitamin E can help to reduce the build up of cholesterol-plaque on the linings of arteries. Niacin can be effective in clearing cholesterol out of the body when taken in high doses. However, as with olive leaf, care should be taken if you are on any prescription medications as serious interactions may occur that could make your medication ineffective or result in other problems. Another vitamin, Chromium, can also assist in indirectly lowering bad cholesterol by keeping blood sugar at more consistent levels.

There are other things that you can stop doing to naturally lower your bad cholesterol. Smoking has been shown to contribute to a build-up of plaque in arteries due to the damage it causes to arterial walls. This causes bad cholesterol to be much more likely to stick to arteries resulting in clogging. Quitting smoking and exercising regularly can both make a major difference in the level of bad cholesterol that is present in the body. Foods such as eggs are very high in cholesterol and eating too many too often can easily cause your cholesterol to go through the roof.