How Can I Dissolve Cholesterol?

High levels of cholesterol can cause serious health problems, including heart disease and other cardiovascular issues. There are several ways to decrease cholesterol levels in the body but, unfortunately, there is nothing that has been scientifically proven that any person can do to promote his or her body to dissolve cholesterol other than taking medication. There are, however, lifestyle changes that individuals can take to aid the body in decreasing cholesterol levels enough for the liver to manage recycling and/or dissolving cholesterol in healthy levels.

Optimum Levels and Sources of Cholesterol

• Cholesterol levels under 200 mg/dL are optimum; more than that is a warning and raises the risk for health issues. While the body makes all of the cholesterol it needs, and can regulate the production and dissolution of cholesterol on its own if kept at about 200 mg/dL or less, many foods, especially foods with high levels of saturated fats or trans-fats, introduce more cholesterol into the body. Eating these kinds of foods, combined with a sedentary lifestyle and/or being overweight, often contributes to high levels of cholesterol that cause deleterious health effects.

Body's Processes

• As mentioned, the body automatically regulates the production, recycling or elimination of cholesterol in the body. The liver is the main organ that performs these functions. The liver produces cholesterol as a normal process, and also absorbs cholesterol for use in other liver processes as it is able. When there is too much cholesterol, the liver produces bile made from cholesterol in the body, and eliminates this bile from the body. Cholesterol cannot dissolve in blood, though, because it is a fat, and blood is water-based. Therefore, the only way to increase dissolution of cholesterol from the body is to take medicine that increases the liver's uptake of cholesterol.
  Cholesterol is often bound within other types of fatty acids, called trigylcerides. Triglyceride levels are very indicative of cholesterol levels and overall health. Therefore, most medical explanations often talk about trigylcerides as a whole, and many medications treat not only high cholesterol levels but triglyceride levels.

Medications

• There are several types of medications:

  - Fibric acid derivatives, called fibrates. Fibrates decrease blood triglyceride levels and hasten the removal of triglycerides from the blood. The medicine Tricor is a brand of fibrate.

  - Bile acid sequestrants. Sequestrants lower LDL cholesterol by causing more bile to be eliminated from the body, stimulating the liver to produce more bile to replace the bile excreted. With more bile produced, more cholesterol is being used. The medicine Colestid is a brand of sequestrant.

Lifestyle Changes

• If your doctor feels you don't yet need medication, you can still lower your cholesterol by exercising regularly and reducing the amount of foods you eat with large amounts of saturated and trans-fats and cholesterol.