Cholesterol used to be a word of terror for people. Cholesterol is present in cell membranes and transported through blood plasma.
Cholesterol is produced inside body at the liver. The food we take also contains varying amounts of cholesterol. The body has a system to speed up or reduce cholesterol production in accordance with dietary intake.
There are two types of cholesterol. Low-density lipoprotein and high-density lipoprotein.
Causes of Cholesterol Imbalance
The major cause of high cholesterol levels is wrong lifestyle. Fatty food, lack of regular exercise and stress are the main causes of imbalance in cholesterol. These and other causes can be listed as follows:
• High blood pressure
• Diabetes
• Obesity
• Excessive smoking and drinking
• Stress
• High intake of fat diets
Natural Remedies for Cholesterol
You must be thinking how to lower cholesterol? Following are some home remedies to reduce colestrol.
• Take 1 tsp. roasted chicory root, 1 tsp. lime flowers, ½ tsp. fenugreek seeds, ½ tsp. ginger rhizome, and 1 quart of water. Mix them and bring to boil. Let the boiled mixture cool. Then strain and drink 2 cups a day.
• Eat a clove of garlic every morning on empty stomach. In fact, the intake of garlic should be increased by adding it to daily food preparations as it lowers LDL cholesterol level and increases HDL.
• Include ginger in your diet as it also reduces cholesterol and thins the blood which improves its circulation.
• Take Guggul (Indian bedellium) which reduces triglycerides and LDL by 35% and increases HDL by 20 %. The Guggul extracts are easily available in form tablests and capsules.
• Eat more of (about 70- 90% of your food intake) raw food. If you can't eat raw, lightly saute the vegetables in olive oil.
• Eat barley. Its good if you replace rice with barley.
• Have oatmeal regularly.
• Eat apples everyday after every meal. Apples contain pectin that lowers cholesterol.
• Drink fresh fruit juices, particularly carrot, celery, and beet juice.
• Have soymilk. Replace milk and even coffee creamer with soymilk.
• Drink at least 8-10 glasses of water daily.
• Take onion juice. It cleans blood, helps digestive system, cures insomnia and regulates the heart action apart from lowering bad cholesterol.
• Apply mudpack over abdominal area. It is good cure for indigestion and also improves the functioning of the liver and activates kidneys to promote excretion.
• Exercise daily. It can simply be brisk walking or yogasanas like ardhamatsyaendrasana, shalabhansan, padmasana and vajrasana. These Yoga asanas help in lowering blood cholesterol. Obesity is one of the major causes of high cholesterol levels. Reduce weight. However, if you suffer from any heart disease, consult your doctor before starting any heavy exercise like jogging, swimming, running or gym training.
• Take 2 tbsps of coriander seeds. Mix it with a glass of water and boil. Let it cool for some time and then strain it. Drink it thrice a day. It lowers blood cholesterol and stimulates the kidneys.
• Take sunflower seeds. They are extensively used for making cooking oil these days.
• Eat handful of almonds and walnuts daily. They are good source of HDL or the good cholesterol.
• Take 10 pieces of cinnamon sticks of 2.5cm each, a tablespoon of honey and 5 teacups of water Mix them and boil. Brink this hot mixture.
• Quit smoking and limit alcohol intake.
