You have heard a lot about "good" and "bad" cholesterol and their effects on heart health. Excess amounts of LDL---the bad cholesterol---can lead to a number of serious problems. Typically, lifestyle changes form a cornerstone of management along with medications when necessary. Certain supplements have demonstrated cholesterol-lowering abilities, but probably work best as a complement to more standard therapies. Consult with your doctor or other healthcare practitioner before self-treating with supplements of any kind including vitamins.
Warnings
Like pharmaceutical drugs, concentrated amounts of herbs, vitamins and other natural supplements contain components that exert certain effects on the body. Just like their conventional medicine counterparts, this means that they might not always be appropriate if you have certain medical conditions or use certain medications. For example, certain natural supplements can negatively interact with cholesterol-lowering medications. While natural treatments generally produce fewer side effects and work more gently in the body, this does not mean they do not pose any health risks.
Importance of Professional Guidance
A backlash against pharmaceuticals coupled with a growing interest in natural medicine has led more people to seek alternatives to pharmaceutical drugs, particularly for high cholesterol and other problems stemming from poor lifestyle choices. Many natural treatments might help high cholesterol and you should consider working with a health care professional experienced in alternative or integrative medicine for optimal benefits. They can offer advice on dosages, interactions, which supplements to use and what brands to buy. Natural supplements are not subject to the same rigorous production standards as pharmaceutical drugs and many brands might not contain enough of the beneficial substance to produce change or even any at all. Additionally, they might contain harmful contaminants.
Nutritional Supplementation
Foods contain many beneficial vitamins, minerals and other components that exert positive effects on various aspects of health. Sometimes however, you need larger amounts than found in food to exert therapeutic effects. The University of Maryland Medical Center notes nutritional supplements that might help lower LDL levels based on clinical research.
Omega-3 fatty acids, particularly DHA and EPA found in fish, have demonstrated cholesterol-lowering abilities and help promote overall heart health. ALA, an Omega-3 found in plant foods might not work as well for this purpose.
Beta-sitosterol, a substance found in plant foods, has shown cholesterol-lowering abilities in a number of well-designed clinical studies. In addition to supplementation, many types of healthy margarine, orange juice and other foods and drinks contain beneficial sterols. Bastyr University, a naturopathic medical school, notes that studies have shown that taking sterols in addition to cholesterol-lowering drugs results in a greater reduction of LDL cholesterol. It cautions however, that these supplements can lower levels of beta-carotene and vitamin E.
Herbal Treatments
Among herbal treatments for cholesterol, red rice yeast has gotten the most attention. This treatment, popular in traditional Chinese Medicine, contains natural statins---a component of one of the most popular class of pharmaceutical cholesterol medications. Because of its make up, it works in a very similar manner as a prescription medication. Do not use red rice yeast if you take statins and always use this supplement under the supervision of a health care professional.
Guggul has a long history of use for treating high cholesterol in India but the UMMC notes that it does not appear to work as well in Western populations.
Bastyr University notes a study that found supplementing with a green tea extract enriched with theaflavin reduced cholesterol levels in adults eating a diet low in fat. Participants taking the supplement experienced a 16 percent drop in LDL levels. They do not know however, how a high-fat diet would influence this benefit.
Considerations
While certain supplements might help in the battle against high cholesterol, none represent a magic bullet that free you from taking responsibility for your condition. Poor lifestyle choices serve as the greatest contributor to high cholesterol and you must make the necessary changes to manage it. Supplements will not do much good if you continue to eat a diet rich in saturated fat and cholesterol and refuse to increase physical activity.
