Lower Your Cholesterol Without Drugs

Heart disease and strokes are usually linked to high cholesterol so it has always had a bad press. Recent figures point to the alarming fact that a lot more younger people are now on drugs to lower their cholesterol. These figures do nothing to reassure us that the obesity epidemic is abating.

Normally older people take these drugs but there has been a big increase among the younger age group (20-44). In fact the increase is just under 70% in the last five years. One way of looking at these figures is that more and more young people are taking heart disease prevention more seriously. But the general consensus is one of alarm.

The most effective and widely tested cholesterol drugs are called the statins, which block the formation of cholesterol in the liver and increase the production of the receptors on liver cells that clean the bad cholesterol from the blood. If you are worried about the side effects of statins, you may want to consider lowering your cholesterol levels a more natural way and that is through a healthy diet. Here are my four top foods which will definitely lower your cholesterol without having to take any drugs.

Top of the list are tomatoes. They contain a very valuable substance called lycopene which acts to stop the oxidation of LDL which is the bad cholesterol. Once this oxidation occurs, it starts to form plaque in the arteries and that is dangerous. There have been studies on this and they have confirmed that lycopene is a valuable ally in the fight against high cholesterol.

My second one is fish, preferably baked or grilled rather than fried in oil. Look out for high fat fish such as wild salmon, sardines, mackerel, herring, trout, etc. These are great sources of omega -3. Lots of studies done on the Eskimos who eat a lot of fish and they have a much lower rate of heart disease and blood pressure problems. Flaxseed and canola oil are also good sources of Omega -3

My third one is soy because it contains fibre and lots of vitamins and minerals. Recently the American Heart Association stated that the effects of soy on blood pressure and on triglycerides was actually minimal. But it is a great source of low-fat protein and that is why I eat or drink it all the time.

Any type of nuts from walnuts, almonds, cashews and so on, come in fourth place. The first reason is that nuts are great sources of the healthy kind of fat and also contains Omega-3, not to mention some valuable minerals. I try to aim for 20% of my daily calorie intake. I am on 1,200 claories a day so nuts will account for about 200 of those. Actually researchers have shown that if you do that, it can reduce your cholesterol by about 12% – just with one small adjustment to your diet.

These top foods I have outlined are just a few of those mentioned in the Mediterranean Diet which has been the at the centre of attention for a long time now. Studies show that people living in the Mediterranean basin actually have a lower rate of cholesterol and heart disease than many other nations. It has nothing to do with the sun – it is what they eat !

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