Naturally Lowering LDL Cholesterol Gradually and Effectively (supported by herbal medicines)
Naturally Lowering LDL Cholesterol By Lowering Triglycerides
Step #1: Lab Test
So obviously, the first thing we would do is run some lab work. And you know, I kind of keep it simplistic. I run a general lipid panel and the general lipid panel, there's two markers that I really put a lot of emphasis on first and foremost.
- Number one is the triglyceride level.
- And number two is the total cholesterol to HDL ratio.
Let's talk about the triglycerides first
Triglycerides are fats in the blood that your liver will manufacture when you take in more sugar, carbohydrates or starches than what your body can burn, or utilize.
Those carbs get sent to the liver in an attempt to get rid of that excess glucose or fuel, the body will convert it over to triglycerides, which basically can be used as an energy source or stored directly as body fat.
That's how your body kind of gets rid of excess carbohydrates.
And so when it shows up on the blood test, if I see a triglyceride level above 100, it's telling me that that person's in a state of more fat storage, and that they're taking in too many carbs in their diet, and their body's trying to get rid of it.
Also, when you take in too many carbohydrates, starches or sugar, your body will transform some of that over to cholesterol.
So what's happening is, that when I see high triglycerides gives me an indication of the quality of the person's cholesterol.
Because when you have high triglyceride, your body then starts producing small dense particles of cholesterol because triglycerides are a carry in the cholesterol molecule.
And so triglycerides take up a lot of space and that cholesterol molecule subsequently the the body starts producing more smaller dense particles of cholesterol, more transport systems.
But they're small and dense, which makes them more prone to be more atherogenic. Okay, or clogging of the arteries, per se.
I run the blood work look at basically those two markers that take precedence above all else, which is the triglyceride level, then I take a look at the total to HDL ratio, and that level should be less than 3.5.
So obviously, the first thing we would do is run some lab work. And you know, I kind of keep it simplistic. I run a general
lipid panel and the general lipid panel, there's two markers that I really put a lot of emphasis on first and foremost.
Number one is the triglyceride level.
And number two is the total cholesterol to HDL ratio.
Let's talk about the triglycerides first.
So triglycerides are fats in the blood that your liver will manufacture when you take in more sugar, carbohydrates or starches than what your body can burn, or utilize.
So those carbs get sent to the liver in an attempt to get rid of that excess glucose or fuel, the body will convert it over to triglycerides, which basically can be used as an energy source or stored directly as body fat.
That's how your body kind of gets rid of excess carbohydrates.
And so when it shows up on the blood test, if I see a triglyceride level above 100, it's telling me that that person's in a state of more fat storage, and that they're taking in too many carbs in their diet, and their body's trying to get rid of it.
Also, when you take in too many carbohydrates, starches or sugar, your body will transform some of that over to cholesterol.
So what's happening is, is that when I see high triglycerides gives me an indication of the quality of the person's cholesterol.
Because when you have high triglyceride, your body then starts producing small dense particles of cholesterol because triglycerides are a carry in the cholesterol molecule.
And so triglycerides take up a lot of space and that cholesterol molecule subsequently the body starts producing more smaller dense particles of cholesterol, more transport systems.
But they're small and dense, which makes them more prone to be more atherogenic. Okay, or clogging of the arteries, per se.
I run the blood work look at basically those two markers that take precedence above all else, which is the triglyceride level,then I take a look at the total to HDL ratio, and that level should be less than 3.5.
Anything above 3.5 is the indication that the body is not producing enough beneficial HDL cholesterol to essentially get sent out to the tissues and pick up unused cholesterol bring it back to the liver to be recirculated.
Now when I see a ratio above 3.5, it tells me that there's a predominance of LDL cholesterol, and that there's a lot of excess cholesterol kind of hanging around in the blood, which then has a greater incidence of becoming oxidized or damage and then get potentially deposited into the artery wall because it's a form of cholesterol that's unusable. Okay?
Let me pull up the products here so I can discuss what's in each one, and how they are benefit.
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We'll do cholesterol balance first.
So the cholesterol balance is a combination of a couple of different gradients know the primary ingredient found in this
product is called Red yeast rice.
And it's an organic form of this natural ingredient.
Essentially what red yeast rice does is it naturally slows down the livers production of cholesterol by having an effect on an enzyme in the liver called HMG co reductase.
Now this enzyme is responsible for the formation of cholesterol.
In certain people, that enzyme it can be upregulated.
This particular product can downregulate that enzyme slowing down the production of cholesterol so the body can utilize it
more efficiently.
In the product also contains 4 other ingredients:
coenzyme Q 10, which is very important for cardiovascular health
Policosanol which has been shown to naturally lower cholesterol levels.
Guggul g u g g u l it's called , and this has been shown to improve cholesterol utilization. And also it helps up
regulate the thyroid gland, you know, by increasing metabolism to help clear some of the cholesterol from the blood.
And then alkali folic acid which is a universal antioxidant.
Cholesterol Balance can be very helpful for when people have genetically high cholesterol and they have naturally regulated HMG-CoA reductase enzyme.
This product can help slow that down and naturally lower the production of cholesterol without causing the side effects that are associated with a cholesterol lowering drug like a statin drug.
Okay, so this is kind of your natural version of that cholesterol lowering drug, which yields far less fill effects and it's much more mild on the body.
So our cholesterol lowering drug basically poisons that livers enzymes production kind of blocks the formation Have that enzyme, which then can lead to a depletion of that coenzyme Q10.
It can lead to much of a suppression of cholesterol, we're looking for a nice balance. That's why the name of the product is called cholesterol balance.
It's not as strong and as aggressive as utilizing a cholesterol lowering drug that does have more natural fashion, just by kind of slowing down the body's natural production, it kind of slows that enzyme opposed to overtly poisoning it like a cholesterol lowering drug would do.
But one of the big things also there's there's some plant sterols in there that also work to find up any excess cholesterol, make it more readily secreted through the digestive tract.
So red rice has worked in that fashion too.
That one also contains some of the guggul, the commiphora mukul, which is this herb that helps kind of bind up cholesterol
works in you know in the level of the digestive tract, but also has an affinity towards working on up regulating the thyroid glands
Has the policosanol in there that's been shown in clinical research to have a positive effect on lowering triglyceride levels and cholesterol levels.
And then it has the primary ingredient found in this product is bergamot orange extract. This is a specific patented form in a Phyto cell.
This has been shown to increase HDL cholesterol, lower triglycerides, lower LDL cholesterol in clinical studies.
I use this one when patients have elevations in those triglyceride levels.
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Ultimately, the best way to lower triglycerides is through diet.
Minimize the amount of carbohydrates, starches and sugar in the diet for that person and put them on it. You know, figure out what their individualized carbohydrate tolerance is.
And I use the triglyceride level in the blood to kind of dictate a patient's carbohydrate tolerance.
When they're taking in too many carbs, you're gonna see an elevation and triglyceride levels, a reduction in good cholesterol and elevation in LDL cholesterol.
When we put that person in a sweet spot of carbohydrates, we subsequently see triglycerides go down HDL cholesterol go up and LDL levels go down.
But these supplements can aid in that whole process.
They're adjunct to a low carbohydrate diet or determining your carbohydrate tolerance.
You wouldn't do these as a standalone. You do these in conjunction with obviously diet and lifestyle.
These products can have an effect, but they're not gonna be optimal until you implement a diet along with it.
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Triple strength fish oil has a significant effect on increasing HDL cholesterol levels, lowering LDL cholesterol
lowering triglyceride levels in the blood.
So that's how omega threes can work. My blood sugar balanced product
Some of the primary ingredients in there are geared towards reducing cholesterol reducing blood sugar, improving insulin resistance
which is a big contributing factor to elevations in triglyceride levels.
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Liver detox support works on the level of the liver by improving liver metabolism.
You know when you take in too many carbs... carbohydrates, starches and sugar has to go through the liver they can't get transformed to triglycerides and over to cholesterol.
When the liver is functioning more efficiently this process can work a little bit better so we can kind of clear this excess fat,cholesterol and triglycerides through the liver a little more efficiently.
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Thyroid adrenal support complex.
Poor thyroid function is a potential cause of elevated cholesterol.
Thyroid hormone has several different affects on the regulation of lipid production, absorption and metabolism.
Thyroid can stimulate the expression of the HNG coa reductase. So thyroid hormone also increases the expression of LDL receptors on the surface of the cells in the liver and other tissues.
Low thyroid function, which is hypothyroidism. The number of LDL receptors cells actually goes down.
So when you up regulate the thyroid you increase the number of LDL receptors on a cell.
So when you have a low number of receptors for LDL on the cell, this leads to reduce clearance of LDL from the blood and
therefore higher levels of LDL.
Does that make sense? There's studies that are out there that show that LDL cholesterol is higher in people with higher TSH
levels toward thyroid function.
So this product can be helpful in lowering cholesterol levels through those mechanisms by increasing LDL receptors and so
forth and helping with the clearance of LDL from the blood.
Anything above 3.5 is the indication that the body is not producing enough beneficial HDL cholesterol to essentially get sent out to the tissues and pick up unused cholesterol bring it back to the liver to be recirculated.
Now when I see a ratio above 3.5, it tells me that there's a predominance of LDL cholesterol, and that there's a lot of excess cholesterol kind of hanging around in the blood, which then has a greater incidence of becoming oxidized or damage and then get potentially deposited into the artery wall because it's a form of cholesterol that's unusable. Okay?