How to lower Bad Cholesterol and Raise Good Cholesterol Levels?

Posted by on October 22nd, 2008 at 05:00pm

Cholesterol, a soft, waxy fat substance that can be found in our blood and cells of our body exist in two forms, the LDL, low-density lipoproteins, cholesterol and HDL, high-density lipoproteins, cholesterol. Cholesterol is produced in the human liver for our normal bodily functions like, to form cell membranes, form hormones, vitamin D and bile acid. Though it is a fact that we need cholesterol in our body for it to function properly, high levels of cholesterol in our blood has a large health risk, mainly from developing heart related diseases and suffering a heart attack. With that said, the main cause for high cholesterol problems is an excess of LDLs, whereas, the HDLs do not even play a part in causing harm to our body.

The question thrown back often would be how to we reduce the LDLs in our body and increase the HDLs? In the market, we often hear of cholesterol lowering supplements such as Statin drugs, but rarely hear of products that boost the production of good cholesterol, HDLs. Fortunately, some natural herbs actually have dual properties, to reduce LDLs, but at the same time increase HDLs!

Policosanol:

Policosanol is a pure extract of sugar cane wax that has been deemed more effective than even man-made prescriptions for lowering cholesterol. Not only that, it also possess the property of raising the HDL cholesterol. Policosanol is also a nutrient that has been scientifically to not cause any side effects that are normally associated with medication for high cholesterol problems.

Green Tea Extract:

Green tea extracts have very similar properties exhibited by Policosanol. However, green tea extracts have been pointed out for many more other cures for other types of health problems and not just for lowering cholesterol. Just like Policosanol, green tea extracts can both lower LDL cholesterol and at the same time raise the HDL cholesterol levels.

Niacin:

Niacin, also known as nicotinic acid – is a B vitamin. It lowers the levels of LDL cholesterol and fats in our bodies when taken in large doses, but it also does raise the HDl cholesterol level in our body. Though Niacin can be bought without a doctor’s approval, it is advised that you seek a doctor before buying Niacin, as it has very serious side-effects. Being a man-made drug, it would no doubt cost more also as compared to natural herbs like Policosanol or even green tea extracts .

Under Cholesterol