Diet and Natural Tips For Lowering Bad Cholesterol

Cholesterol is present in every person’s body and is essential for the normal functioning of the body. But when the level of cholesterol increases it may get deposited in blood vessels and may cause serious health problems.
There are 2 types of cholesterol, Low density lipoproteins or LDL (bad cholesterol) and high density lipoproteins HDL (good cholesterol). LDLs are responsible for plaque buildup in the arteries, this blocks the flow of blood to mayor organs like the liver, the kidneys, genitals, brain and is the number one cause of heart disease.
HDLs in the other hand are considered good because they carry unused cholesterol back to the liver where it was produced once there the liver brakes it down to be removed from the body. The needed cholesterol plays an important part in the formation of sex hormones and proper nerve and brain function.

The problem is that cholesterol is also present in our diet and usually we eat too much saturated fats such as, coconuts, white bread, gravies, pork products, etc. all these added to the cholesterol produced by the liver could make us reach an unsafe cholesterol level. So maybe you should take into consideration the following changes in your daily diet:

- Eat food high in fiber: Fruits, vegetables and whole grains are great sources of fiber. Soluble fiber (pectin) has been known to lower cholesterol because it has the ability to attach itself to fatty substances. Because fiber is not absorbed by the body, it can dramatically reduce the body’s ability to absorb cholesterol. Take bran cereals or corn flakes with milk in breakfast. These corn flakes are good source of energy and helps in lowering excess cholesterol level.
- Eat more organic food: Organic food contains more nutrients than non-organic food or junk food. Nutrients are needed to help the body remove toxins and heal itself. Organic food usually doesn’t contain harmful synthetic chemicals, such as pesticides and herbicides.
- Eat more raw plant food: When eating plant food, try not to cook it. Cooking it will destroy about half of its nutrients.
- Avoid eating meat: Meat contains a lot of cholesterol, even lean meat. This includes turkey breast (skinless), chicken breast (skinless), fish or sea food. If you can’t avoid meat completely, limit it as much as possible.
- Avoid eating fatty food: Food that contains a lot of fat are usually high in cholesterol too. No butter when cooking!
- Avoid using cooking oil: Cooking oil such as vegetable oil, is very concentrated and is usually high in cholesterol. Even the cholesterol free cooking oil is bad for you. Vegetable oil contains high levels of saturated fat which stimulates your liver to produce more cholesterol than your body needs. Eating food that contains high levels of any oil will raise your cholesterol levels, even if the food doesn’t contain cholesterol.
- Drink tea: Teas are full of phytochemicals which are known to lower the bad cholesterol (LDL).
However, if your level of bad cholesterol is not under normal limits and the changes in your diet didn’t help much, consider the following tips:
- Take 10-12 tablespoons of apple juice, add equal amount of (5-6 tablespoons) vinegar extracted from apple and grape juice into it. This health drink is very effective in reducing high cholesterol and purifies blood.
- You can also drink coriander in water every day. It will help in the reduction of cholesterol in the body. This regime must be continued for about a month. Then the cholesterol levels must be checked again.
- Take one garlic capsule at least twice a day. It will reduce the level of bad cholesterol in the body and will also increase the level of good cholesterol.
- You can take either grape juice or the grape fruit. Take at least one and a half cup of grape fruit in a day and your cholesterol level will get lowered by 7 % in two months time.
- Take one teaspoon of lime flower, one teaspoon of chicory root, one and a half teaspoon each of ginger rhizome and fenugreek seed in 250 ml water. Then boil the water for awhile and allow the concoction to cool down. Strain the liquid and drink this every day and this will reduce your cholesterol level.
- Take one cup of butter milk and to this add one finely chopped onion. Also add ¼ teaspoon of powdered black pepper and drink the mixture. You can also take the onion juice for lowering the cholesterol and to purify the blood.