How To Lower Your Cholesterol

Everybody talks about cholesterol. Do you really know what it is (besides being bad for you)?

Well, cholesterol is a soft, waxy substance. It is found in all of the parts of your body. Your body makes cholesterol. Cholesterol also comes from the food that we eat.

The truth is that you need cholesterol in order for your system to work. However, too much cholesterol, or the wrong type of cholesterol clogs your arteries. This, naturally, leads to heart disease.

One of the functions of cholesterol is that it aids the body to produce the following: hormones, vitamin D and also, bile acid. It circulates through the blood to be used by your entire system.

In your food, cholesterol can be found in eggs, dairy, and both meat and poultry. Eggs and organ meats are especially high in cholesterol. As a rule there is less to be found in fish. However, some shellfish is also high in cholesterol.

Vegetable quality foods such as grains, beans, nuts, seeds, vegetables and fruit do not contain cholesterol.

Believe it or not, the fat content of a particular food is not an adequate measure of its cholesterol content. Liver is low in fat but is high in cholesterol.

A simple rule of thumb is that as your level of cholesterol goes up, the risk of developing atherosclerosis and/or heart problems increases significantly.

A scary statistic is that more than half of the adults have cholesterol levels that are higher than they should be. It is not uncommon for high cholesterol to begin in childhood. It is believed that some children are at higher risk because of family history. This is only partly true. What is more true is that we pass our eating habits onto our children, thus increasing the chance of having high cholesterol levels.

In order to lower our cholesterol levels to a healthy level, there are some lifestyle changes that we can adopt.

1/ Change your diet. Eat more grains and vegetable quality foods. Especially include more fiber in your diet.

Many people find that changing their diet is not enough. This is when the doctor prescribes medication to help.

I do not believe that this is true. What is happening is that these people are not changing their diets enough. Having high cholesterol does not happen all by itself. It is the result of what we eat and our lifestyle.

Exercise is equally important. When you exercise, you increase your energy requirements. This will dramatically help to lower your cholesterol.

Finally, if that is not enough, you can try using Chinese herbs. The Chinese have been using herbs successfully for thousands of years.

Chinese herbs are, compared to conventional medicine, very mild, safe and effective. They can assist you in the transition from an unhealthy lifestyle to a healthy one.

Whatever course of action that you decide on, do it now. High cholesterol is a serious health risk without any apparent outward symptoms. It is crucial to take the necessary steps to eliminate this health risk.

Kathryn Soloff is the co-publisher of http://cholest-pure.com where she provides additional advice, tips and hard to find information on How To Lower Your Cholesterol Naturally.

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