Lowering Cholesterol With A Holistic Approach

In this article I want to talk about heart disease in women, lowering cholesterol naturally and how important it is if you have family history of heart disease. Of course everything I'm saying here applies to men as well and you too can try the different approaches I suggest just as a woman can. So if your wife needs to lower her cholesterol and you could lowers yours too you both can do what I suggest.

Here is a link that gives you more information about family history and I definitely recommend reading it. http://www.webmd.com/heart-disease/news/20010129/family-heart-disease-history

My Mother suffered from heart disease as did my dad and they both died from it. Since my dad was in his 80's when he had his first heart attack it doesn't contribute to me being at higher risk. She had PAD which is peripheral artery disease which clogs up leg arteries but can also affect the arteries in the arms. In Mom's case she almost lost her leg due to the clogging, it was 99% blocked and if the Dr hadn't done the surgery when he did she would have lost her leg. Gangrene was already setting up in her foot. My mother also suffered from three strokes and before she died she had two heart attacks and a stroke and she was never able to walk again partly because the other leg was also severely clogged(75%). She also had kidney failure and family history of heart disease. My grandmother suffered from mini strokes and it is believed that before she died she may have suffered from a ful blown stroke but sheh ad parkinson's disease and was unable to speak, walk or feed herself. My great aunt died from a heart attack at age 54. My great grandmother died from a heart attack at age 65. My grandfather also suffered two heart attacks and my uncle(my mom's half brother) suffered several attacks and strokes before he died. My uncles(on dads side) have both suffered from heart attacks and one uncle had what is defined as early age heart attack. I have been fortunate in that my cholesterol is under control and with the exception of tachycardia I don't suffer from high blood pressure.

So when I tell you what I'm about to tell you it's important to listen. My mother also had high blood pressure which the Dr's were never able to get under control. She smoked which also didn't help and couple that with not exercising enough and family history and you have a dangerous cocktail.

If you smoke, now is the time to quit. If you have high blood pressure and/or high cholesterol now is the time to do what you can to get it under control. You may not like the diet the Dr gives you but you must follow it anyway, you might not like taking cholesterol medicine but if it won't come down then you must. If you have diabetes try to get it under control and avoid foods that make it worse. Diabetes makes cholesterol worse and in turn high cholesterol makes diabetes worse.

Most people don't want to turn away from meat and many refuse but I'm here to tell you it's one of the best decisions you will ever make not just heart wise but the fact they give hormones to the cows and chickens so they can take them to market faster. If that isn't enough the poor animals in many cases are not allowed to graze outside but are forced to stand in stalls for many hours a day. That's cruelty.

When my Dr who is vegetarian gave me a vegetarian diet I thought, "I'm not following this, he's out of his mind." One day in his office I admitted I really liked Burger King and he swung around on that little seat of his and said, "You have to make a choice." I left and gave what he said some thought as I thought about how my mother was sick and there really wasn't any turning back for her and I decided I didn't want to be homebound, unable to leave the house because I couldn't walk or it exhausted me too much. Trust me, nothing will make junk food/high fat food look less desirable than when you have to clean your mother up because she is no longer able to do it for herself. My mother could barely wash herself and in her end days she didn't even know who we were. It was difficult being in the car and watching my Mom's older sister(my aunt) break down and cry her eyes out. There were many times after my mother's death that I would drive with tears streaming down my face.

I won't lie and tell you I never eat meat because once in awhile I do. I didn't follow the Dr's advice and give up fish because I love tuna and that tuna brought my cholesterol down(I never suffered from high cholesterol but it needed to be better).

Moderation is the key. If you like hamburgers you can't eat one very often but once in awhile you can indulge. For some reason I can no longer tolerate beef, it makes me sick. I can tolerate chicken but don't eat it very much.

Watching saturated fat is a big factor. My Dr said that you must watch it closely. Certainly overall fat too but if you pick something up and it's saturated fat content is almost as high as total fat then you need to put it back on the shelf. I've found fish to be good, olives, foods high in fiber and fruits like apples and nuts. Walnuts, almonds and pecans are the best. Fruits and vegetables too. All of these worked very well at lowering my cholesterol. Soy is supposed to be good for cholesterol and actually raise good cholesterol.

You can also take fish oil supplements. My Dr recommends flax oil capsules and he put my husband on niacin(only 500 mg a day). He also recommended red yeast rice for lowering cholesterol naturally. There are other alternatives as well like policasanol. I don't know much about it. If you choose a holistic approach it is important to talk with your doctor about it and discuss other medicines and vitamins/herbs you're taking. If alternative measures dont work, and I always recommend trying alternative and holistic medicine first, then you must go the route of cholesterol lowering medicine. It could save your life.