Hypercholesterolemia is high blood levels. The causes of this disease may be insufficient breakdown in the body or its excessive intake with food, as well as a violation of the hormonal background and higher nervous activity. At the initial stage, a person does not feel signs of hypercholesterolemia, but, with the development of the disease, symptoms appear that are characteristic of hypertension.
- More than 7.8 is very high.
- 6.7 - 7.8 - high.
- 5.2 - 6.7 - increased slightly.
Normal - below 5 (ideally 4 - 4.5).
People with hypercholesterolemia are wondering how to lower cholesterol. They understand that by normalizing its level, they will reduce the risk of heart attacks.
It is most effective to reduce cholesterol at home in 45-60 days with the help of statins and fibrates (drugs to reduce its level), and you can maintain it within the required limits using traditional medicine methods.
What to do with high cholesterol
So, blood lipid tests were disappointing. The question immediately arises: “What to do with high cholesterol?”. And you need to act like this:
1. Make sure the laboratory data are correct
In order for the test results not to be distorted, do not forget that blood is donated on an empty stomach, and you must eat the last time 12-13 hours before blood donation and no later.
Modern laboratory techniques exclude the occurrence of errors by 99.9%, however, in rare cases, errors occur. Especially when high numbers are found in very young people.
2. Start a healthy lifestyle
Reduce your intake of fatty foods, especially animal fats. Eat more foods containing fiber (it absorbs lipids from the intestines and prevents them from entering the bloodstream). Increase physical activity (partially cholesterol will go to restore energy expended).
3. Make a second blood test after 4 - 5 months
If after a period of 4-5 months (when you were treated with folk remedies) did not give significant results, then all health measures should be supplemented with medicines from the statin group, which inhibit the production of cholesterol by the liver.
Sometimes treatment with tablets begins immediately. This happens when the patient is at risk:
- He has hypertension (in many cases).
- Ischemic heart disease (statins will have to be used for life).
- Age over 75 years old.
- Bad heredity.
- Diabetes.
- Obesity.
- Smoking.
Important: before starting treatment with statins, take a liver test.
4. Repeat laboratory tests after 5 - 6 months
After the cholesterol has returned to normal, it is advisable to take a break in treatment for 120-180 days and repeat the analysis. If the level of cholesterol rises again, then the treatment must be resumed and carried out for life.
How to Lower Cholesterol
If the level of lipids is increased, how to lower cholesterol without the use of drugs? You can keep it normal with the help of physical education and diet.
1. Physical culture helps to become healthy
- If a person is engaged in physical education, lipids do not stay in the vessels for a long time and therefore do not settle on their walls. Running is the fastest way to lower cholesterol.
- Physical work in the open air, walks in the park, dancing increase muscle and emotional tone. They give a state of joy, which is very beneficial for the body.
- An hour's walk in the fresh air reduces mortality from vascular diseases by 50%.
To lower lipid levels, you need to perform the following actions:
- Reduce weight (for obesity).
- Quit smoking.
- Do not drink alcohol in excess. It is allowed to take 200 ml of dry red wine (or 50 ml of strong alcohol) per day.
- Don't overeat.
- Be outdoors as much as possible.
2. Say "No!" such products:
- Reduce your lard intake. Or compensate for it by eating oily fish, vegetable oil and washing down with a small amount of alcohol. You can eat lard with garlic, which helps to utilize lipids.
- Don't eat butter sandwiches.
- Do not eat fatty cheeses, eggs, sour cream. Add soy products to your meals. They normalize metabolism.
- There must be a balance of fats. If you ate a “piece” of animal fat, compensate for it with vegetable fat. To do this, mix corn (sunflower), soybean and olive oils in equal parts. Add this balanced mixture to cereals, pasta, salads.
How to lower cholesterol
What is the best way to lower cholesterol? Of course, first of all, you need to try to do this with the help of traditional medicine. Juice therapy is very effective. In just 5 days of taking juices (vegetable and fruit), you can lower blood lipid levels.
5-day course of juice therapy:
- Carrot juice (130 g) + celery juice (70 g).
- Cucumber juice (70 g) + beetroot juice (70 g) + carrot juice (100 g). Beet root juice is not recommended to be consumed immediately. He needs to be allowed to stand in a cool place for 45 - 65 minutes.
- Celery juice (70 g) + apple juice (70 g) + carrot root juice (130 g).
- Carrot juice (130 g) + cabbage juice (50 g).
- Orange juice (130 g).
There are still a huge number of folk recipes that help clean the walls of blood vessels.
Garlic wine cocktail
In a blender, mix 2 dessert spoons of: grape red wine, olive oil, vinegar. Add 3 garlic cloves (chopped). The mixture should be infused for 4 hours, after which add a glass of hot water. Drinking a cocktail is recommended during the day.
Porridge from food bran
For half an hour bran pour boiling water. Then drain it. Add gruel to any dish (in the first week, 1 teaspoon), in the second 7 days - 2 teaspoons, after another 6 - 7 days - a tablespoon (3 times a day).
Activated carbon
Activated charcoal tablets remove lipid molecules from the body well. You need to take it for at least 28 - 30 days (8 g three times a day).
apple garlic mixture
Chop half an apple and garlic (clove). Take 2 tablespoons of this mixture daily.
Decoction of licorice
Boiling water (0.5 l) pour 2 tbsp. spoons of licorice roots. Boil on low heat for 7-8 minutes. Then strain. It is recommended to take a decoction after meals (four times a day) for 15 to 22 days. 30 days break. Repeat course. Usually, after this treatment, cholesterol returns to normal.
Foods that lower cholesterol
First, you need to eliminate sources of saturated fat from your diet, and eat cholesterol-lowering foods:
- Every day, try to eat foods that are blue, red and purple (pomegranate, eggplant, carrots, prunes, oranges, apples).
- Soy products and beans (due to the fact that they contain healthy fiber) lower cholesterol. In addition, they may well replace red meat, which is very harmful to blood vessels.
- Any greens (spinach, dill, onion, parsley, artichoke) are rich in dietary fiber and lutein, which reduce the risk of cardiovascular disease.
- White cabbage is a leader among cholesterol-lowering vegetables. At a minimum, it should be consumed at least 100 g per day in any form.
- Whole grains and oatmeal are rich in fiber. Their use is useful for the whole body, and for reducing cholesterol levels in particular.
- Sea kale, oily sea fish (preferably boiled) have beneficial lipid-lowering properties.
Cholesterol-lowering drugs
With the help of herbs and special nutrition, you can improve your health, but cholesterol-lowering drugs act more intensively.
Medications to lower lipid levels include:
Fibrates
A group of drugs that have a positive effect on high cholesterol:
- Trikor.
- Atromid.
- Lopid.
After statins, fibrates are second-line drugs for the treatment of hypercholesterolemia. They are used with a significant level of lipids in the blood (more than 4.6 mmol / l).
cholesterol absorption inhibitor
- ezetimibe
This drug lowers bad cholesterol. It belongs to a new class of drugs. Interferes with absorption of cholesterol in intestines. Ezetimibe does not enter the bloodstream, and therefore its action is safer, but less pronounced than when taking statins.
Niacin (nicotinic acid, vitamin PP)
It is a B-complex vitamin. Reduces lipid levels. It is taken in large doses with a doctor's prescription. Niacin can cause allergies, hyperemia. "Nicotinka" includes drugs such as Niaspan and Nicolar.
Statins
The most popular class of drugs for lowering cholesterol. Now use such drugs:
- Atorvastatin (Atoris, Liprimar,).
- Simvastatin (Zokor, Vasilip, etc.)
- Rosuvastatin (roxera, acorta, rosucard, crestor).
The most effective are rosuvastatin and atorvastatin. Take them at night, 1 time per day.
Omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs)
This group includes many dietary supplements and medicines: The most popular are:
- Fish fat.
- Omacor.
The drugs are highly safe and have a positive effect on the heart muscle. Unfortunately, their effectiveness is low and they are prescribed only in combination with fibrates or statins.
An increase in blood cholesterol can occur:
- Due to hypothermia.
- As a result of an unbalanced diet.
- Addiction to bad habits.
- genetic predisposition.
The last factor cannot be changed, but all the rest can be corrected by a person. And if the level of cholesterol in the blood is raised quite a bit, it would be wise to choose a safe way to lower it - to lower cholesterol without drugs (with the help of herbs, physical education and a therapeutic diet).
