5 Cholesterol Lowering Secrets Big Pharma Doesn't Want You to Know

There is a definite relationship between high cholesterol and heart disease. It’s estimated that a drop of one point in cholesterol reduces the overall risk of a heart attack by 2 percent. Aware of this relationship, most conventional doctors prescribe cholesterol-lowering statin drugs for patients with elevated cholesterol.

Not only is this practice lining the pockets of Big Pharma, it’s risking your health in the process. Statins are rife with safety concerns including cognitive problems, muscle pain and weakness, fatigue, liver damage, heart failure, and diabetes.

What Big Pharma doesn’t want you to hear about are the ways you can lower your cholesterol safely and naturally:

1. Fight high cholesterol with fiber. Fiber binds to bile acids in the intestines and reduces reabsorption of cholesterol into the bloodstream. Increase your dietary fiber by eating plenty of plant foods. Flaxseed has an abundance of lignans, fibrous plant compounds that bind to cholesterol and carry it out of the body.

2. Raise “good” HDL cholesterol with exercise. Regular physical exercise raises levels of good HDL, which helps to clear out bad LDL cholesterol. Thirty minutes, four or five days a week, is ideal.

3. Reduce cholesterol oxidation with antioxidants. It’s oxidized cholesterol, which is found in fats exposed to heat and air through cooking or processing, that does the most damage to artery walls. Antioxidants are vital for disarming free radicals and preventing the oxidation of LDL cholesterol.

4. Lower your cholesterol with omega-3 fatty acids. I recommend 1–10 grams of fish oil per day, ¼ cup freshly ground flaxseed, or consumption of fish several times a week. Cold-water species, such as salmon, are particularly important for lowering cholesterol.

5. Reduce harmful LDL cholesterol with niacin (vitamin B3). Niacin is the best single remedy for lowering LDL cholesterol levels while raising levels of protective HDL cholesterol. Even conventional doctors recommend it. Start with 500 mg three times a day with meals. If your cholesterol is above 280, increase the dose to 1,000 mg three times a day after two weeks.

With any niacin therapy, you should have your cholesterol, triglycerides, and liver enzymes tested every three months or so. If the flushing bothers you, take the dose at bedtime so the flushing happens while you’re asleep. This therapy is not recommended for patients with liver disease, gout, or ulcers. Note: For cholesterol-lowering purposes, you should take the regular form of niacin. Research indicates that niacinamide and “no-flush” formulations (inositol hexaniacinate) have little or no effect on cholesterol or triglycerides.

Now it’s your turn: Which of these cholesterol-reducing secrets do you practice?

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