SolveYourProblem eLearning Series: Cholesterol
My Cholesterol Level Is Too High -
What Can I Do?
( 8 pages )

Natural Treatments For High Cholesterol (Part I)

No medications can do a better job than treating your high cholesterol naturally. And, if you are one of those lucky people who do not have cholesterol concerns, you may want to take steps to keep it that way!

What can you do to improve your cholesterol levels? Here's the list and we will cover each item thoroughly.

Reduce fat in your diet

One of the best plans is to reduce saturated fat. But there is more you can do. Buy the leanest cuts of meat you can find. Regularly substitute poultry (without the skin) and fish for red meat. Both are lower in saturated fat. Switch to low fat cottage cheese and yogurt, reduced fat hard cheeses and skim or 1 percent milk.

Eat no more than four egg yolks a week

Many people don't have to worry about eating cholesterol. Normal bodies adjust to increased intake by cutting back on regular production. However, since one third of Americans are cholesterol responders, their blood cholesterol does go up when they eat cholesterol. So, play it safe and eat no more than four egg yolks a week. An average egg yolk contains 213 milligrams of cholesterol!

Eliminate fried foods

Buying low fat is just the beginning. You need to institute low fat cooking methods to keep the cholesterol from sneaking back in to your diet.

• Remove fatty skin from chicken and turkey.
• Don't fry foods. Roast, bake, broil, grill or poach them instead.
• Use fat free marinades or basting with liquids like wine, tomato or lemon juice.
• Use olive or canola oils for sautéing or baking. Both are very low in saturated fat.
• Use diet, tub or squeeze margarines instead of regular. Watch for the term "hydrogenated," which means some of the fat is saturated.

Eat vegetables and complex carbohydrates

The lowest fat foods of all are vegetables, fruits, grains (rice, barley and pasta), beans and legumes. Try substituting some of these for meat and high fat dairy products.

• Don't douse your pasta with butter or your potato with sour cream.
• Use tomato base sauces instead of cream base.
• Use lemon juice, low sodium soy sauce or herbs to season vegetables.
• Make chili with extra beans and seasonings while leaving out the meat.
  

Lose weight

If you are overweight, the chances are almost 100% that you have a problem with high cholesterol.

You can lower your LDL and elevate your HDL just by dropping some pounds. Eat fewer fatty foods and more fruits, vegetables, grains and beans and it's a pretty good bet that you will slowly but surely lose weight.

Include your family

Eating habits carry through to adulthood. Get your children on a healthy eating pattern early. Don't begin until they are at least 2 years of age, however. Babies need extra fat calories to develop properly.

Snack all you want

Yep, that's what we wrote. Snack several times a day on low fat foods. Yogurt, fruit, vegetables, bagels and whole grain breads and cereals are excellent for snacking. In fact, there is evidence that points to lower cholesterol levels in people who eat several small meals a day. Eating often can keep hormones like insulin from rising and signaling your body to make more cholesterol. Make certain that your total intake of calories doesn't go up when you eat more often.

Nuts to you!

Do you like nuts? If you do, sprinkle a few on your cereal, bake them into muffins or pancakes or add them to casseroles or stir-fries. Walnuts and almonds are especially good. Eating about three ounces of walnuts a day is shown to decrease blood cholesterol levels by 10% more than an already low fat, low cholesterol diet. Walnuts are high in fat, but it is mostly polyunsaturated fat, which is the kind that lowers cholesterol. Another study shows that about three ounces of almonds which are rich in monounsaturated fat, lowers LDL by 9%.

Eat chocolate

Aha! All you chocoholics rejoice! Studies indicate that the fat in chocolate is stearic acid and has no effect on cholesterol levels. The chocolate does not increase LDL and could raise HDL a wee bit. But chocolate is still high in fat and calories so don't go overboard.

Drink fruit juices

You may have read about the low rate of heart disease in France. It led researchers to believe that the French habit of drinking red wine with meals contributes to this. Apparently some of the non-alcoholic ingredients in red wine raises HDL and suppresses the body from producing LDL.

Purple grape juice works the same way. It will work like red wine to lower the fat level in your blood. The LDL lowering effect of red wine and grape juice comes from a compound that grapes produce normally to resist mold. The darker the grape juice, the better.

Grapefruit juice does the same thing and it may also help your body get rid of that nasty plaque.

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