What can I take to lower my high cholesterol other than prescription medicine? How long before seeing results?
In the past, red yeast rice reportedly helped. But, that was because it contained a drug naturally. The FDA took it off the OTC shelves for a while. Subsequently, it is back on the shelves, but reportedly without the drug. Therefore its efficacy is likely in question. See this article: http://heartdisease.about.com/cs/cholesterol/a/Nrxcol_rry.htm Personally, I wouldn’t mess around with your cholesterol. It is a significant contributor to cardiac health risk. If your blood tests indicate your total cholesterol is too high or your HDL and LDL numbers are out of acceptable ranges, you should definitely speak with your physician about statins. They will lower your cholesterol very effectively and you will absolutely not get tired. If your cholesterol is only borderline, then you may first want to try controlling it through diet and exercise. But, if it is high, you are playing with fire if you don’t
First, and I’m sure you’ve heard this many times before, you’re going to have to take a hard look at your diet. Many people have the impression that dietary cholesterol (the cholesterol values printed on the labels of foods) is the only contributor to high cholesterol; they’re mistaken. While it contributes, high cholesterol is primarily due to diets high in saturated fats. In order to effectively reduce your cholesterol, you’ll need to increase your intake of complex carbohydrates and fiber and cut back on saturated fats. Saturated fats tend to come from either animal sources (meat, butter, whole milk, eggs) or from hydrogenated vegetable fats (shortening, stick margarine…). When consuming vegetable fats, try to make sure the fat is in a liquid state – as a general rule, the softer it is, the better it is for you. Choose oils, or even spreadable margarine (some of the “light” varieties – I use Brummel & Brown – are still very good) instead of stick margarine or shortening. Many oils
