How Do You Lower Your Ldl Cholesterol – Cholesterol is perhaps the most misunderstood nutrient of all. For many of us, it basically acts as a bogeyman, so there are countless articles that promise to provide you with the most effective natural ways to lower cholesterol.
It is understandable how he performed in that role. After all, the statistics can be overwhelming. For example, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) lists some alarming facts about cholesterol:
How Do You Lower Your Ldl Cholesterol
After reviewing these sobering facts, you may want to magically remove all cholesterol from your body. If you did, however, you would soon regret it. Cholesterol performs many vital functions within the body, such as helping to keep your cell walls flexible and facilitating the production of various hormones.
Natural Ways To Lower Cholesterol
Before diving into my recommendations for really useful strategies to optimize your cholesterol levels, let’s clarify what cholesterol is, how it works in the body, and the connection between dietary cholesterol and blood cholesterol.
Cholesterol, in the simplest terms, is a waxy, fatty substance produced by the liver. As mentioned above, your body needs some cholesterol for some essential functions. When it starts to accumulate, however, it can cause problems.
Cholesterol belongs to a category of particles in the blood called lipids. In fact, cholesterol is the most well-known lipid in the blood. Although the term “blood lipids” technically refers to fat particles circulating in the blood, it is commonly used to refer to blood particles that are a combination of lipids and proteins, such as cholesterol.
Since cholesterol is a combination of lipids and protein, the particles that contain cholesterol in the blood are called lipoproteins. These include high-density lipoproteins (HDL), low-density lipoproteins (LDL) and very low-density lipoproteins (VLDL). The other main type of fat in the blood is triglycerides, which are formed when three fatty acid molecules are linked together.
Top Foods To Raise Your Hdl
Each type of lipoprotein affects your health in different ways. Excess amounts of low-density lipoprotein, for example, can build up in the walls of your blood vessels, leading to strokes, strokes, heart attacks and kidney failure. High-density lipoproteins, however, clear cholesterol deposits from blood walls, thereby reducing the risk of the same set of adverse health outcomes.
So when we talk about finding ways to lower cholesterol, the specific target of these strategies is low-density lipoprotein, not high-density lipoprotein.
The liver is the main site for the production of fatty acids and cholesterol. Fatty acids produced in the liver are linked together to form triglycerides. Although triglycerides and cholesterol are produced in the liver, the liver is not equipped to store much of either. As a result, they are packed with proteins and secreted into the blood as very low density lipoprotein (VLDL).
VLDL molecules serve as transporters of fat from the liver to peripheral fat depots. As VLDL circulates in the bloodstream, it deposits fatty acids and cholesterol in your adipose tissue, otherwise known as body fat.
How To Lower Ldl Cholesterol: 4 Simple Lifestyle Tips
I must briefly say here that not all triglycerides produced by the liver are excreted as VLDL; some can be released directly into the blood as triglycerides. It is another way to transfer fatty acids from the liver to adipose tissue for storage.
Adipose tissue is a suitable storage site for triglycerides. A larger amount of fat can be stored in adipose tissue. Under normal conditions, fat can be stored in adipose tissue without adverse effects on overall health, although excess amounts of triglyceride storage factors lead to obesity.
The triglycerides of VLDL molecules are taken up by adipose tissue thanks to a protein called lipoprotein lipase. This enzyme is not completely efficient, however, in completely clearing VLDL through adipose tissue. The remaining fat in the blood is converted into low-density lipoproteins (LDL), which are returned to the liver, where they are cleared from the blood or taken up by other cells in the body. This is the main way cholesterol reaches the tissues of the body.
A special receptor on the membranes of the liver and other tissues plays a key role in the uptake of cholesterol from LDL molecules. If LDL cholesterol is taken up by the liver, it is then metabolized and excreted from the body. Conversely, cholesterol taken up by other tissues can remain and disrupt normal body functions.
Ldl Cholesterol: What It Is & How To Lower It
I mentioned earlier that low-density lipoproteins have earned the famous nickname of “bad” cholesterol. As you may already know, or may intuit, this converts high-density lipoproteins (HDL) into “good” cholesterol, largely because it removes LDL from the blood.
HDL cholesterol, which is also released by the liver, carries unabsorbed and unused cholesterol to the liver in a process called reverse cholesterol transport. This keeps your arteries free from cholesterol build-up, which reduces the risk of heart disease and stroke.
The more HDL in your blood relative to LDL, the faster your liver will clear, break down, and excrete cholesterol. When assessing your cholesterol level, doctors usually test your LDL:HDL ratio and give it a lot of weight.
During a physical examination, it is common to measure the concentration of these lipids in the blood, and if the values are outside the normal range, treatment options are recommended. This gives us a very distinct feeling that all lipids in the blood are bad.
Which Foods Can Lower Your ‘bad’ Cholesterol? (part 2)
Although high levels of certain blood lipids are associated with poor health outcomes, let’s first consider some of the beneficial roles of blood lipids.
Cholesterol has many functions in the body, including helping the body produce certain hormones, vitamin D, and enzymes that help digest food. Cell membranes are composed mostly of lipids. Problems arise, however, when you have high cholesterol levels, high triglyceride levels, or both. Excess is never a good thing.
LDL, as mentioned earlier, has the reputation of being the worst of the blood lipids. LDL cholesterol can build up and form plaques that harden your arteries. This condition is called atherosclerosis.
Cholesterol-containing plaques can clog arteries, leaving less room for blood to circulate. Platelets can also rupture, which causes platelets to come to the site of the rupture and form blood clots. If the clot is large enough, it can block blood flow. If it occurs in a vessel that supplies blood to the heart, it will cause a heart attack, and if it occurs in a vessel that supplies blood to the brain, it will cause a stroke.
How To Lower Ldl Cholesterol Levels The Correct Way
Triglycerides are also risk factors for atherosclerosis and therefore heart attacks and strokes. Recently, doctors have paid even more attention to high triglyceride levels because it is one of the factors that cause metabolic syndrome. Accumulation of triglycerides in the liver, specifically, has been shown to promote the progression of metabolic syndrome, itself a precursor to diabetes. This means that the diagnosis and treatment of metabolic syndrome is crucial to prevent diabetes.
Many types of drugs called statins are prescribed to lower LDL cholesterol levels. Although statins are usually effective for this purpose, they come with side effects, most commonly muscle pain. The side effects of statins can be particularly pronounced in older people. In some cases, muscle pain can be relieved by switching to a different type of statin or by taking a dietary supplement called Coenzyme Q10 or CoQ10. One of the side effects of statins is the depletion of CoQ10, and given that CoQ10 contributes to the body’s energy production system, it can be quite worthwhile to restore healthy levels.
There are other medications to help lower LDL levels, including cholesterol absorption inhibitors, fibrates, and niacin. Again, all these drugs usually come with harmful side effects. Cholesterol absorption inhibitors that block fat absorption can lead to diarrhea, fibrates can impair normal liver function (again, especially in older people), and niacin can cause itching and burning.
Keep in mind that although these medications can help lower cholesterol, they usually do not affect triglyceride levels. Fibrates are the most effective prescription for lowering triglycerides, but adverse effects on the liver limit the use of these drugs.
Ways To Lower Cholesterol Without Medication
Furthermore, of these medications, only fibrates have been shown to effectively lower triglycerides, and their adverse effects on the liver limit their use.
Thus, while there are several prescription options that effectively lower LDL cholesterol levels, most do not address high triglyceride levels. This, along with the many side effects associated with these drugs, prompts many to look for more natural ways to lower cholesterol.
The cholesterol myth persists: that you can lower cholesterol by eliminating cholesterol from your diet. This is a fallacy. Cholesterol in the blood is made in the liver, not absorbed from digested food.
Although food manufacturers continue to sell low-cholesterol products, the truth is that dietary cholesterol has a relatively small effect on the amount of cholesterol circulating in the body. One reason for this is your liver’s ability to modulate how much cholesterol it makes based on the cholesterol in your diet. If you’re getting more cholesterol from the foods you eat, your liver turns back cholesterol production accordingly.
Top 8 Foods To Lower Your Cholesterol
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