What are cholesterol lowering supplements and foods that you should choose? As well we know that high cholesterol or also familiar called as hypercholesterolemia is one of popular health-topics in this modern living. Bad modern lifestyles of eating too much unhealthy foods, and modern facilities (modern vehicles) that can quickly displace you from one location to another without needing more energy of your body (so thus you are more likely to have lack of physical activity /day) are some factors of the increasingly health problems associated with hypercholesterolemia!
In essence, your body needs cholesterol to keep functioning properly. But when the level of cholesterol is too high, you will have high risk of some serious health problems (particularly like stroke and heart disease)! Read also normal & not-normal cholesterol levels and best foods to decrease your cholesterol level, before continuing!
Cholesterol is a natural part (waxy material) of fats that can be found in body’s cells and bloodstream. As mentioned before, the body needs a certain amounts of cholesterol! But high cholesterol can lead to sticky deposits in the walls of your artery, which then can block the mechanism of your blood flow!
And when you have hypercholesterolemia, you will not have any symptoms! That’s why to get to know your cholesterol levels you need to get regular cholesterol tests! Talk with your doctor to get more in-depth information how often you should get cholesterol tests!
People who are over the age of 20 should get at least 1 cholesterol test in 5 years, and if you have a lot of risk factors of hypercholesterolemia or high cholesterol you may need to get the tests more often!
Regular exercise and some lifestyle changes are some helpful options to decrease LDL cholesterol. LDL is low-density lipoprotein or so familiar known/called as ‘bad cholesterol’. And sometimes, your healthcare providers also give some advices to take some cholesterol lowering supplements and foods.
Cholesterol lowering supplements and foods
The following are facts about supplements and foods to lower cholesterol (talk with your healthcare provider or doctor to get more in-depth information):
Soluble fiber
It is one of the best options to lower cholesterol! And the best option to get adequate fiber intake is by regularly consuming whole grains, fruits and vegetables. You can also take fiber supplements, but this option is not as good as by eating whole grain, fruits & vegetables in their natural form. You might also like to know more about health benefits from vegetables!
Stanol esters
They can be pill or capsule-form supplements and also can be found in certain margarines, like Benecol. Sometimes the statin drugs also can be used in combination with stanol esters. Some studies found that stanol esters can be effective to reduce the absorption of cholesterol. Nevertheless, they should not be optioned to replace drugs, but usually more recommended as a complement of a treatment plan.
Niacin
It is a kind of B-complex vitamin and usually at high doses. To reduce cholesterol more effectively, doctor may also use it as a complement of prescribed statin drugs. But before taking niacin, you should talk with your doctor first, because there are also some side effects that should be carefully concerned, such as frequent muscle pain due to muscle breakdown!
Soy
Soy is one of popular foods that have many beneficial properties to promote good health from minimizing symptoms of menopause to lowering cholesterol.
And there are many studies that found soy may be helpful to control the levels of cholesterol. But there are also some researches that found mixed results.
Regardless to these controversial results, many experts still recommend consuming soy to promote good health. It can be a high source of good protein and relatively lower in saturated fat, which believed can be so useful to promote good health of your heart.
Controversial cholesterol lowering supplements and foods
Coenzyme Q10!
It is not only credited to decrease LDL level but also to slow down the aging process. Unfortunately, there are also many experts that misdoubt the effectiveness of coenzyme Q10. Furthermore, there is no adequate evidence to verify the effectiveness of coenzyme Q10 on lowering cholesterol!
Garlic
Some people believe that garlic can be helpful on controlling cholesterol. Garlic has a lot of beneficial properties. But when it comes to lowering cholesterol, garlic is not too effective or even almost useless.
A study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association (in 1998) found that garlic cannot lower cholesterol. Therefore, all cholesterol lowering supplements that are made from garlic should not be recommended as an option to decrease cholesterol!
Red yeast rice
It can be categorized into both supplement & drug! It has lovastatin or also familiar called as monacolin-K. Many initial studies found that read yeast rice can be so effective to lower cholesterol. But unfortunately there is still no clearly answer what the appropriately dose should be!
Other supplements
Other controversial supplements are quercetin, lecithin, and chromium. They should be used or chosen only under the guidance of your healthcare provider or doctor!
Note: one thing you should remember to keep safe on lowering your cholesterol is you need to let ‘your healthcare provider or doctor’ in on anything you want to take before you do it! So, always discuss first with your doctor before taking any cholesterol lowering supplement!
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Reference: WebMD
Image credit to ‘shutterstock’ for illustration
