High Cholesterol
How Vitamins & Nutritional Supplements May Help
 

First of all, we don't think that high cholesterol, per se, is actually a risk of heart disease, certainly not by itself.  If you carefully look at the studies, you will see that in older people, for example, having higher cholesterol is actually an indicator of having a longer life!  In addition, many people have heart attacks who have low blood cholesterol levels.

Recommended cholesterol levels, like with blood pressure, have gone down over the years, and we do think, in our humble opinion, that this is simply a ruse by the pharmaceutical companies to get more people on their cholesterol-lowering drugs.  Additionally, if your cholesterol is low and you are pleased about that, you might want to do some more research.  Dr. Hal Huggins recommends a blood cholesterol level of around 220 to 225, and others have said that up to 240 is still normal.  Doctors today want your cholesterol to be below 200 and sometimes much lower than that if you are at risk for heart disease.

Also, for years we have been told to avoid high cholesterol foods, however, studies have shown that consumption of these high cholesterol foods like liver, eggs and shrimp is not correlated with high blood serum cholesterol.  Our bodies make cholesterol, and seem to make more under certain circumstances.  Like with high blood pressure, it may be a protective factor, and making your cholesterol go down with drugs without solving the root problem may actually be counter-productive.*  In addition, cholesterol is needed by the body for many processes, including cell, hormone and nerve function, so if you get it down abnormally low, you may be setting yourself up for all sorts of other problems.

In addition, also in our opinion, if your total cholesterol numbers are high, but your LDL ("bad") cholesterol is low and your HDL ("good") cholesterol is high, you probably don't need to worry that much.*

For more info, read The Cholesterol Myths by Uffe Ravnvskov, MD, PhD.
 

Common Symptoms of High Cholesterol
 

Poor circulation, leg cramps and pain, high blood pressure, fatigue, cold hands and feet.
 

Common Causes of High Cholesterol
 

There are many theories out there about high cholesterol, but cholesterol seems to be used by your body to patch up problems with your arteries, and is not necessary related to a diet high in saturated fats, as is commonly promoted.  High triglycerides is commonly associated with a diet high in sugar, which is not good for you for a myriad of other reasons as well.
 

Vitamins, Minerals and Other Nutritional Supplements
 

Once again, the antioxidant vitamins C and E seem to help prevent high cholesterol problems*, probably because our bodies seem to manufacture more cholesterol to help repair the arteries, and as explained under the "heart disease" section, these antioxidant vitamins seem to help lower the risk of having artheriosclerosis*.  Chlorella and a source of omega-3 fatty acids like cod liver or fish oil, as well as carnitine, can be helpful*.  Reishi mushrooms, ginger root, garlic and ginseng have all been shown to help lower LDL and triglyceride levels.*  Turmeric can also be helpful, along with nutritional yeast.

Goji and Mangosteen have also been recommended for high cholesterol*  Mangosteen is high in antioxidants called Xanthones that have been shown to have anti-inflammatory properties.

In one study by Wojcicki, J. et al in Phytotherapy Research, patients with high cholesterol were given lecithin for 30 days, and their total cholesterol and triglycerides went down by 33%; their LDL (bad) cholesterol went down 38%.  At the same time, their good HDL cholesterol went up by 46%.

Recommended Vitamins & Nutritional Supplements*

• Vitamin C Complex
• Vitamin E Complex
• Cod Liver Oil / Fish Oil
• Carnitine ("Circuzyme" by QN Labs)
• Turmeric
• Goji 100 Juice
• Mangosteen 100 Juice
• Reishi
• Ginseng
• Lecithin
• Chlorella
• Resveratrol & the Antioxidant DHLA
   

Food Choices
 

We know this is going against common advice, but we really think from all the research we have read that eating saturated fat and foods containing cholesterol is actually good for you and not going to cause your blood cholesterol to go up.  You, of course need to do the research for yourself, but please don't dismiss this idea without looking into this idea further on your own.  There is a lot of information on this on the Weston A Price website.  You can also check out the book The Cholesterol Myth.

Try not to overeat, and avoid excess coffee, alcohol and sugar.  Add some yellow-orange vegetables to your diet for the carotenoids and antioxidants.  Egg yolks are a good source of lecithin, but we do recommend finding some from pastured chickens if at all possible.  Rice bran contains the plant fat gamma oryzanol, which as been shown to lower bad LDL cholesterol and increase good HDL cholesterol.*  Moderate consumption of red wine also seems to prevent bad LDL cholesterol from forming, and keeps the arteries clear, perhaps because of it's high levels of resveratrol, a plant fat that can help prevent and correct artheriosclerosis.*
 

Other Ideas
 

Exercise is important, as is losing any extra weight you may have*.  Stress reduction and eliminating nicotine use is also important, in addition to adding vitamin rich foods and nutritional supplements to your diet.*

* This statement has not been evaluated by the FDA.  This product is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure or prevent any disease

Healthy Vitamins & Nutritional Supplements