How to Lower LDL Cholesterol

Lowering bad (LDL) cholesterol

Cholesterol takes part in many essential body functions; it is a building material the liver makes. Two types circulate in the human body, but only one needs watching closely — low-density lipoprotein, LDL, or simply the bad cholesterol.

What drives the build-up of bad cholesterol in the blood?

An unhealthy diet is the main cause of high bad cholesterol. Another risk factor is certain illnesses and the drugs taken for them (a small share of cases). Genetics or heredity account for an extremely small number: only 1 in 300 inherits that “gift” from a parent or grandparent. Medicine long ago named bad cholesterol the great enemy behind heart disease and stroke, so doctors’ protocols call for prescribing statins as fast as possible — but these, like any drug, carry a list of side effects. Muscle cramps, joint trouble, headache, even nausea can appear on statins. So what to do? Are there alternatives?

Lowering LDL with soluble fiber

What is fiber? It is a substance the human stomach does not digest at all, or digests only partly and very slowly. Fiber comes in two kinds — soluble, found in vegetables, and insoluble, found in grains. Flaxseed and chia are especially rich in it. Travelling through the gut, soluble fiber turns into a gel and becomes food for the good bacteria, supporting digestion and lowering precisely the bad cholesterol in the blood. But before rushing to the pharmacy for soluble-fiber supplements, check your kitchen shelves — you will surely find what you need: beans (black are best), chickpeas, lentils, onions, chia, plantain. Found them? We have no doubt you can recall at least one tasty dish with one ingredient or another.

What are hydrogenated fats, and lowering LDL by avoiding them

Hydrogenated (trans) unsaturated fats form when vegetable oils are chemically altered to stay solid at room temperature. This greatly extends shelf life and lowers production cost, which is exactly why the food industry chooses them. Unfortunately, the products and ready-meals containing hydrogenated fats are a direct route to high bad cholesterol. You will find them in fast food, dairy products, all kinds of frozen or ready-to-eat convenience foods, oil-fried food (crisps, chips), and the cakes, pastries and biscuits made in supermarkets.

Studies have proven a direct link between hydrogenated fats and cardiovascular disease, breast cancer, infant nervous-system disorders, diabetes, obesity and allergies.

And of course hydrogenated fats hit cholesterol directly: they raise the bad and lower the good. Why are these poisons — for humans, and for children! — not simply banned?

The benefit of good fats: lowering LDL by eating good fats

If, in plain terms, there is a poison, there will surely be an antidote. So if hydrogenated fats are the straight road to bad cholesterol building up in the vessels, then monounsaturated and polyunsaturated fats — in the truest sense — lower it. Peanuts, avocados, hazelnuts, almonds, olives, sesame, sunflower seeds — in short, nuts and seeds — are what you should see on your plate every day. Best of all beside a favourite home-cooked piece of meat or fish. Fish not to your taste? There are still more kinds of fish in the world than you could imagine. While the resource lasts, it is worth tasting and befriending your favourite kind and way of cooking it — and if a freshly made salad with a handful of seeds and a drizzle of olive oil sits alongside, consider the bad cholesterol already clutching its head.

Lowering LDL with exercise — the benefit of physical activity

Research shows that regular physical activity can help: reduce body weight, lower the odds of cancer, reduce the frequency of depression, improve memory, lower blood pressure, raise the good cholesterol, bring more happiness and motivation — and lower the bad cholesterol in the blood.

Thinking “I have never exercised in my life, no skill, no motivation — this is not for me”? Entirely understandable. When we say sport, we mean physical activity you can tame by making a few small decisions each day. Decide not to use the lift and always take the stairs. Always park the car further away. Or maybe the supermarket is not so far that you could walk there and back? Find an active pursuit you enjoy, and do not forget — sport itself will make you enjoy swimming, running or playing; just give it a chance and take the first step. We promise that after two weeks of at least half an hour of daily activity you will really feel the lightness and the urge to keep going.

Lowering LDL by resisting the temptation of sugar

Most people already know sweetness does them no good (the worn-out phrase “sugar — the white death”), but they have no idea how serious it is. In fact, sweetness (glucose, lactose, sucrose, fructose and so on) contributes more to heart disease than eating saturated fat (lard, eggs) does. “Fatty ribs” and similar dishes were blamed for our heart disease, while the real villain quietly keeps tempting us with its sweetness.

Many people (doctors included) still believe that if you eat too much fat, your vessels will clog. For the last 30 years we have been pushed the idea of cutting fat from our food. That drove up consumption of fast carbohydrates, which sparked an epidemic of excess weight and cardiovascular disease. Our brain needs (very, very little) glucose, but the body can make it even from protein. Yes, you read that right — the body can make the glucose it needs by itself. And do you know what it cannot make? Protein and good fats (omega-3, omega-6). Without protein and good fats we would die. Without carbohydrates (sugar) we could live a whole life. So which seems more important for the body to eat: porridge (carbohydrate-glucose) or an egg (protein and fat)?

But sugar is very tasty, and we develop a dependence on it. Evolution shaped us to crave sugar and put on fat from it, so we could later “stretch” through a cold winter. Why we are drawn most to what is sweet is easy to guess — the body need not work long to turn sugar into glucose, which then reaches its target, the brain, at lightning speed. The surplus is carried straight to your waistline, building your winter fat (for a winter that never comes). Sadly, the glucose surplus appears in the bloodstream at lightning speed too. Easily reached sweets have stopped being food for when you are hungry and become a vicious-circle epidemic, where one taste makes you want more. Leaving sweet drinks, sweets, cakes, pastries and fruit unchecked, we send not only our blood sugar and our mood up and down and wear out our pancreas (working to release insulin against the glucose surplus) — we also raise the bad cholesterol in the body.

How to quickly and easily lower bad cholesterol?

There are natural, fast solutions for lowering bad cholesterol. Strong polysaccharide extracts of certain medicinal mushrooms can lower the bad cholesterol, raise the good, and do it without side effects. So which are the best cholesterol supplements, and where to get them?

Frequently Asked Questions