Hi,

Before we look into how to lower cholesterol naturally, it is important to know that our body needs cholesterol. It is not all bad but as usual, too much of it causes problem.

Cholesterol is a soft, waxy substance present in all parts of the body including the nervous system, skin, muscles, liver, intestines, and heart. It is both made by the body and obtained from animal products in the diet. Cholesterol is manufactured in the liver for normal body functions including the production of hormones, bile acid, and vitamin D. It is transported in the blood to be used by all parts of the body.

In the blood stream, cholesterol combines with fatty acids to form high-density (HDL) and low-density (LDL) lipoproteins. LDLs are considered the "bad cholesterol," since they can stick together to form plaque deposits on the walls of your blood vessels, leading to atherosclerosis.

One-fourth of the adult population in the U.S. has high blood cholesterol levels. More than half of the adult population has blood cholesterol levels that exceed the desirable range, as specified by the medical community. Elevated cholesterol often begins in childhood. Some children may be at higher risk than others due to a family history of high cholesterol.

About one in five American men ages 30 to 34 may have an advanced case of clogged arteries that creates a high risk of a heart attack in the next 10 to 15 years, says a report out today.

For the most part, those young men have no symptoms of the fatty plaque insidiously building up on the inner walls of their arteries, says Henry C. McGill Jr., lead author of the report in Circulation: Journal of the American Heart Association .

"The tragic part is that they are young men at the peak of their careers, some of whom will drop dead," McGill says.

About half those who die suddenly of heart disease drop dead without any warning sign like chest pain, says the American Heart Association (AHA).

Yet McGill and other experts say that grim outcome doesn't have to happen. In many cases, simple lifestyle changes, including a low-fat diet and regular exercise, can help lower the risk of heart disease, they say.

McGill, a researcher at the Southwest Foundation for Biomedical Research in San Antonio, and his colleagues studied 760 teens and adults ages 15 to 34 who had died as a result of an accident, a homicide or a suicide.

During the autopsy, the researchers took blood and measured the thickness of the plaque clogging the left artery supplying the heart with blood.

Based on autopsy results, researchers project that up to 2% of males ages 15 to 19 have severe atherosclerosis, in which 40% or more of the artery is clogged with plaque.

How to Lower Cholesterol Naturally

By the virtue that you are reading this, you are most likely eager to know either naturally or through medications. lowering cholesterol through naturally remedy only, in view of the side effects from theses drugs that lower cholesterol. That would be discussed separately.


Vitamin C can help regulate cholesterol synthesis in the liver. This means that by keeping your vitamin C levels up, the body can increase its efficiency to carry LDL (bad cholesterol) from the arteries to the liver for processing. This can greatly reduce your blood cholesterol levels without changing the chemistry of your body.

Vitamin C and CoQ10 are needed by our blood carrying veins and arteries to produce the collagen and elastin that they need to prevent them from breaking down. Lacking in such production may potentially lead to chronic stress of the vessel walls. Due to this instability, bad cholesterol can develop over time and point the way to cardiovascular disease. Not to mention, if we are deficient in vitamin C and CoQ10, cholesterol and plaque to bolster the arterial walls.

You might want to know that not like most animals, our body don;t produce vitamin C. In fact, large portion of animals ( higher order primates) make large quantity of vitamin C daily compare to what we consume from our diet. This is probably why animal don;t really have heart diseases, the science is not conclusive on this yet tho.

Many new studies have shown that supplementing with vitamin C, vitamin E and lysine can prevent plaque from building up in the heart and even remove plaque that has already built up. The anti-oxidant effects of vitamin C prevents the bad cholesterol from oxidizing and thus reduce the chance of it sticking to the arteries' wall. Only oxidized bad cholesterol plaque the artery wall..

Another good supplement to fight cholesterol is Niacin, it raises your good cholesterol level and reduces bad cholesterol. Additionally, Niacin do helps vitamin C travel through glucose, multiplying its efficacy. These 2 supplements combining together make a very good combination for cutting down cholesterol in diabetics.

Additionally, fish oil supplements has shown to notably reduce triglycerides. Triglycerides come from the fats that we eat, or they are produced by our body if we eat higher carbohydrates than are needed. Your body must store triglycerides for energy between meals. But, over consumption of carbohydrates and increase level fat can cause triglyceride levels to keep on the high and help to plaque quantity and heart disease.

Just like Omega 3, the essential fatty acid, specifically DHA and EPA, help to lower triglyceride levels. You may see a feeble raise in LDL levels if you are complimenting with fish oils, but don't worry. The level of LDL is more accurate once the triglyceride level are being controlled. Additionally, triglycerides are changed into LDL, and are less risky in this form.

Edible soluble fiber is another great supplement that can lower LDL cholesterol. Ingested or obtained via diet daily, they help lower your LDL levels up to20%. Probably the best form of soluble fiber is oats, you might want to combined with a increase dose of vitamin C for reducing cholesterol.

Speak to your doctor before you set about supplementing to lower your cholesterol, especially if you are taking statins or other medications. To get an adequate dosage of vitamin C, you may want to take vitamin C powder. If you have high cholesterol, it is important to continue treating it once you start and work closely with your physician.

We will not get into the side effect of cholesterol drug, probably I will write another hub on this but those are the stuff doctor won;t tell you. Fact is that there were even death cases with family of statin drugs.

The sad fact today is there is a rising trend of children with cholesterol problem, we may not like it, but we have to face this fact. According to some studies, many children are considered in the group of high risk premature coronary heart disease and some of them are suffering from high cholesterol at a much younger age then before. As a guide, health care professional do not check childrens' cholesterol levels routinely.

Cholesterol build up in the arteries can lead to either heart attack, stroke or both, depending on where the arteries are in the body. The American Heart Association states that there is research finding to support cholesterol buildup starts in early childhood.

The perfect time to introduce and intervene with healthy life style changes are childhood. These will provide healthier habits for the rest of their life.

Children with a family history of high cholesterol and heart disease and overweight themselves are most at risk.

The scientific position of American Heart Association is "elevated cholesterol levels early in life may play a role in the development of adult atherosclerosis and that lowering levels in children and adolescents may be beneficial"

The dietary cholesterol that kids absorb are from food such as red meat, egg yolks, seafood, and full fat dairy products that include milk, cheese and ice cream.

The following are some factors that come into play for kids with cholesterol problem:

- Diet that contains high level of saturated fats like baked goods and packaged snacks products.

- If they have a family history of low good cholesterol or high bad cholesterol.

- If they are overweight by medical standard and are have a sedentary life style.

- Children or teens who smokes, have high blood pressure or type 1 diabetes.

If you kids are active, have a healthy diet that lacks saturated fats, especially baked goods and snacks, or do not fall into any of the above points, you really don;t need to worry about your kids with cholesterol of early heart diseases.

Kids who are 2 years and above who are exposed to known risk factors should be screened for blood cholesterol levels. The following are the risks:

- Has at lease one parent with total cholesterol of 240mg/dL and higher.

- Has a parent or grandparent with early heart disease before age 55.

- If there is any family history that is "unknown"

- The child is overweight or is clinically obese

A simple blood test will tell your child's cholesterol level. At age 2-9, the acceptable level are less 170mg/dL. 170-199 mg/dL are considered borderline and high level are those that are above 200 mg/dL.