Lower Cholesterol Without Prescription Drugs?

Don't make a trip to the pharmacy just yet. In most cases it is
possible to take control of your cholesterol naturally, without
the use of prescription drugs but first you need to understand
some facts on cholesterol.

When the word "cholesterol" comes to mind some may think of it
as deadly. The truth about cholesterol is that it isn't deadly
at all, it's a vital substance.

Cholesterol is actually a very important part of our bodies
because it's used to form cell membranes and is needed for other
functions in our bodies. However, it's when there are excessive
levels of cholesterol in the blood that cholesterol can become
dangerous.

This is known as hypercholesterolemia or "high cholesterol."
There are many risk factors involved in having high cholesterol.
These risks shouldn't be taken lightly as high levels of cholesterol
greatly increase the risk of stroke, atherosclerosis, and coronary
heart disease.

There are different ways you can develop high cholesterol. Your body,
mainly the liver, can produce too much cholesterol and a poor diet
will almost always do it. You MUST take on strict, healthy lifestyle
changes to take control of your cholesterol. This includes:

1) Becoming more active. Physical activity plays an important role
in reducing and maintaining healthy cholesterol levels. Just 30 minutes
per day can have a positive impact.

2) Eating foods that are low in saturated fat and cholesterol.

3) Maintaining a diet rich in soluble fiber. Soluble fiber binds with
cholesterol in the intestine and takes it out of the body.

There are also many natural alternatives that can be used to compliment
a healthy lifestyle. In most situations, you can reduce high cholesterol
without the use of a statin drug which is a prescription strength
cholesterol lowering medication.

Statin medications work by interfering with an enzyme that is necessary
for the body to manufacture cholesterol. However there can be some serious
side effects when using statin medications ranging from mild to very serious.

Before making the decision to start statin therapy, you may want to consider
trying natural alternatives first. Natural alternatives are not only much
safer than using prescription drugs but also a lot cheaper. Some natural
alternatives may even be as effective as using a statin.