Holistic Method to Lowering Cholestrol

With all the dangerous side effects that are being discovered with some cholesterol-lowering drugs, many people are looking for holistic approaches. As beneficial as some drugs can be, nothing can replace having healthy eating and exercise habits. Many doctors, both traditional and naturopathic, are first turning their patients on to natural ways to lower their cholesterol before trying drugs.

Oatmeal

• Adding oatmeal to your diet can significantly lower your cholesterol. Oats have a high concentration of beta-glucan. This is a soluable fiber that sucks up cholesterol just like a sponge does water. If the idea of eating oatmeal every day doesn't appeal to you, you can also try adding oat bran to homemade bread, pancake and muffin mixes. Another idea is to make oatmeal breakfast cookies and eat one or two for breakfast instead of a bowl of oatmeal.

Get Rid of Extra Pounds

• One way to naturally lower your cholesterol is to get rid of excess weight. Being even 10 or 20 pounds overweight can affect your cholesterol because extra pounds mess up your body's ability to metabolize dietary fat. Slow, steady weight loss---such as about a pound per week---is best. You can do this by reducing your caloric intake by 500 calories per day or burning an additional 500 calories a day. Doing both together is the best way to have slow and steady weight loss.

Eat More Healthy Fats

• One cause of high cholesterol is consuming too many saturated fats. While doctors will often put you on a diet that severely restricts fats, there are some good fats that you can eat that will actually help to lower your cholesterol. These are called monounsaturated fats, and they are in foods such as extra virgin olive oil, avocados, nuts and even peanut butter. They help to lower your cholesterol by lowering LDL, the bad cholesterol, and triglycerides while raising your HDL, the good cholesterol.