The holiday season has ended, and you pretty much gave up on any good dietary choices/exercise that may have helped bring your cholesterol levels down. Well, the start of a New Year is the perfect time to change those habits and make healthier choices. For elevated cholesterol levels, it’s recommended to try lifestyle changes for 3 months and recheck to see if it made a difference. Supplements and diet may help bring those numbers down.
Dietary cholesterol has minimal influence on your cholesterol levels so go ahead and eat eggs, shrimp, and meat as these are easy ways of getting protein in your body especially when exercising and rebuilding muscle. Exercise may improve cholesterol levels and cardiovascular heath but note that the longer and more intense the exercise, the greater the benefit.
Ketogenic diets can lower cholesterol levels but can temporarily elevate LDL levels (“bad cholesterol”) through its mechanism of making ketone bodies. When you go back to a balanced diet and out of ketosis, cholesterol levels should decrease or normalize.
Soluble fiber can be digested by your good bacteria in your gut and can help reduce LDL levels . Fiber can also remove the “bad cholesterol” from the intestinal tract without affecting the “good cholesterol” levels. NutraCleanse is a great source of fiber containing psyllium husk, ground flax seed, fenugreek, dandelion and burdock root. Fiberlicious by Purica is a good source of soluble fiber and can be added to coffee or beverage of your choice.
Lipo-Matrix by Cytomatrix and LessTerol by Omega Alpha contain red yeast rice, policosanol, and inositol hexanicotinate. Red yeast rice works similarly to statins by inhibiting cholesterol synthesis. It may deplete the body of CoQ10 possibly causing muscle aches and fatigue, so I recommend supplementing with CoQ10. Policosanol was found in numerous trials directly compared with statins to lower cholesterol levels. Inositol hexanicotinate is a non-flush niacin. All three ingredients have a synergistic effect on lowering cholesterol levels and are my number one picks.
Sytrinol by Prairie Naturals contains natural compounds found in citrus peel and palm fruit extracts and was shown in multiple studies to decrease total cholesterol levels by 30% without the side effects associated with statins. Cholesterol by Organika and Cholessterin by New Roots Herbal contain Plant Sterols that decrease the absorption of cholesterol in the intestines.
The best approach would be to look at the root cause of what is causing increased cholesterol production and fat storage. Consider attending one of my upcoming monthly seminars on the root cause of high cholesterol, fatty liver disease, type 2 diabetes, high blood pressure, and belly fat. I will give details of a UBC study using dietary measures that showed a 34.3% reduction in triglycerides after 12 weeks. The next seminar is Jan 19th, 2023. Register by calling 604-576-2888 or online HERE.
Lyle Sunada is a compounding pharmacist and NAMS Certified Menopause Practitioner specializing in hormone balancing and alternative medicine at Cloverdale Pharmasave. Everything mentioned in the article is available In-Store. Articles, Q&A, blog posts and all materials submitted for publishing is the intellectual property of Cloverdale Pharmacy Ltd – reproduction in part or whole, in print or online, without written consent and permission is prohibited.
