Today, the number of American adults who should seek medical advice in order to reduce their high blood cholesterol levels has reached over 100 million. One medication which has limited side effects and is known to lower cholesterol levels and fight heart disease whilst Americans are continually getting larger are statins.

There are things that can help you fight this problem. This article is designed to teach you how to do something about your cholesterol problems. First we will take a brief look at what cholesterol is and then we will show you how statin medications, prescribed by your doctor, can make you healthier. To treat high cholesterol there are many different types of statins, and we will review them for you.

Cholesterol a waxy, fat like substance shows itself naturally in cell membranes and walls throughout your body. Producing hormones is one of the uses of cholesterol. If there is too much cholesterol in your bloodstream problems begin to surface.

If it seems impossible to reduce your cholesterol levels using natural treatments your doctor may resolve to having you take cholesterol reducing medications like statins. Of these medications we will be focusing on statins. Even if you begin taking statins it is imperative that you follow through with natural, lifestyle treatments as well.

It is important that you first know what statins are and how they help to reduce your cholesterol. Statins suppress HMG-CoA reductase, an enzyme. HMG-CoA reductase monitors the rate that cholesterol creates itself in the body. Statins have been proven to lower cholesterol from 20% to 60%. Statins simultaneously increase the liver’s capability to withdraw Low Density Lipoproteins (LDL) while slowing the production of cholesterol. There is no other drug that successfully lowers the LDL levels better than statins.

While decreasing triglycerides and total cholesterol, statins can also create a moderate increase of High Density Lipoproteins (HDL). Within 4 to 6 weeks of starting the medications positive results are normally seen. Lowering heart attack risks, strokes, and other high cholesterol level related coronary diseases are what statins have been demonstrated to do.

It is not advised to take statins if any of the following pertain to you: allergies to statins themselves or their ingredients; you have a history of myopathy; you have renal failure; you consistently consume inordinate amounts of alcohol; you have liver disease; or if you are pregnant or breastfeeding. Consult your physician if you are unsure whether or not statin medications are right for you.

Brand names of statins that you might recognize are Lipitor, Lescol, Mevacor, Altocor, Pravahol, Zocor and Crestor. There are some drug and/or food interactions that you should be aware of. More than one quart of grapefruit juice per day can decrease the ability of the liver to process some statins. More importantly there may be other medications that can interact and cause serious side effects.

If you are taking prescription drugs or even OTC drugs such as: herbal supplements; medications for infections, immune system, heart failure, HIV or AIDS; birth control pills; Coumadin; or other cholesterol reducing drugs make sure to inform your doctor prior to using statins.

Although unlikely, it is possible for side effects to appear from the use of statins. If you happen to experience the following: vomiting, discolored urine, pain, muscle soreness, stomach pain, or weakness immediately stop taking the medication and contact your doctor.

Your body requires cholesterol for many different purposes. It is needed in order to digest fats, create cellular walls and manufacture hormones, aswell as other things vital to your bodies health.

While cholesterol can be a good thing for your body high cholesterol numbers can be harmful. A constant overload in cholesterol is known to cause high blood pressure and all the ailments that come with it like heart disease. This is where eating low cholesterol diets will really help to avoid unhealthy problems such as those above.

Basically, a good diet in this situation involves keeping a close eye on your intake of foods that contain cholesterol and saturated fats. Pay close attention to your food groups. Our main source of cholesterol is from things like red meat, egg yolk, as well as dairy products like cheese and whole milk.

While it’s a smart idea to reduce your consumption of high-cholesterol foods like this you don’t necessarily need to cut them out completely since cholesterol still provides many benefits to your body.

A low cholesterol diet should also be complimented with a healthy and consistent dose of exercise. You can keep it to something easy, like a daily walk. If you have a pool in your backyard, use it for exercise. The local gym will also give you plenty of different ways to increase your heart rate safely.

Get your necessary vitamins from fruit and vegetables. Don’t ever fry your foods. This only increases the cholesterol content. Opt instead to reduce cholesterol with alternative cooking methods such as grilling or roasting. If a recipe calls for cooking oil, opt for a healthier low fat oil that is commonly available at your local market.

As you can see there are plenty of simple ways to achieve and maintain normal cholesterol levels, should you find you have measured highly on a test. Help yourself first with a healthy diet and exercise but seek the advice of your physician should the problem become more serious.

High cholesterol is a problem for many adults, and can lead to complications like high blood pressure, heart disease, and even death. If you have high cholesterol, it is essential that you work to get it down right away.

Diet is one of the easiest way to lower cholesterol naturally. High saturated fats foods may be the source of cholesterol build up in your body. Typical foods are fattier meat, fried food, cheeses, processed food like cookies, cakes and cold cuts.

Cutting back on these foods may be all that it takes for some people to lower their cholesterol. Others may have to go on a more stringent diet. A stricter diet plan often calls for lower saturated fat and cholesterol. This will usually require that fewer than 7% of the calories that you eat come from saturated fat (approximately 140 in the average 2000 calorie diet). It also requires you to eat fewer than 300 mg of cholesterol a day. The plan may also require you to limit the amount of calories that you eat in a day, since being overweight can influence your cholesterol levels.

Exercise is one of the most effective way of lowering cholesterol naturally. This should complement diet if diet itself is not enough. However for some serve case of high cholesterol, doctor may advise daily dose of medication to control or bring the level of cholesterol to normal level.

When you are considering controlling your cholesterol with a diet plan, there are two “super foods” that you should consider adding to your diet. One is fish, and the other is fiber.

Fatty cold water fish will be a good choice to substitute for the fatty cut meat as the alternative protein source. This is so because these fish contain high content of omega 3 fatty acid which helps in lowering the cholesterol by increasing the level of good cholesterol. The good cholesterol will attached itself to the bad cholesterol and ferries it back to the liver to be metabolized. This natural cycle will lower the bad cholesterol naturally, which will reduce the risk of heart attach, stroke are possibly even erectile dysfunction.

Regular intake of oatmeal has been shown to reduce cholesterol naturally. Nutrients from fruits and vegetables has the effect of increasing the good cholesterol thereby reducing the bad cholesterol and helps fight the high cholesterol problem. Furthermore the fiber in grains, fruits and veggies keeps you full and regulate the digestive system. Most importantly the fiber absorb the fats in the guts before it gets absorb by the body in the small intestine. All these will help lower cholesterol naturally.

A few simple changes may be all that you need to help bring your cholesterol to a healthy level.