Lower Your Cholesterol Naturally With These 5 Herbs

High cholesterol is a universal problem. It matters not what nationality you are or what credo you believe in. Having cholesterol is a condition suffered by 60 million Americans and many more worldwide. Lowering your cholesterol by using herbs, therefore, is a subject of importance and interest to most.

This article looks at 5 herbs that are known to lower cholesterol and are used in different parts of the world. These 5 are herbs that you can use regularly to achieve and maintain ideal cholesterol levels. You can take the herb by itself or use a mixture of two or more.

1. Guggulipid or Commiphora Mukul - The herb is better known as Guggul, because it comes from the Guggul tree. The Gugul resin extract produces a substance known as Guggulipid, which came into popularity in the 1980s. This substance has the ability to decrease your bad cholesterol (or LDL cholesterol) levels as well as the triglycerides in your body. Guggul can also be used to lower your blood pressure, insulin and fasting blood sugar levels. The herb also contains gugglsterone, which is recognized for its ability to help your body rid itself of cholesterol.

2. Cayenne pepper - This is not only useful for flavoring your dishes, it can also lower cholesterol and your blood pressure. Cayenne pepper is able to help your body accelerate the processing and elimination of fat. Cayenne pepper powder comes from the dried and pulped fruits of Capsicum baccatum and Capsicum frutescens. Although it is more popular as a spice, it is also useful as an analgesic, antiseptic, diuretic and expectorant. Cayenne pepper is rich in Vitamins E and C and contains carotenoids and capsaicin (which gives pepper its spice). Currently, cayenne is available in ointment, cream, dried powder, oil and capsule form. It is also used to treat high cholesterol levels, chronic pain, toothache and heart disease.

3. Artichoke Leaf or Cynara scolymnus - Research confirms the ability of artichoke leaf to lower cholesterol levels. In this research, a daily intake of 1,800 mg of the herb extract for 6 weeks or more yielded a decrease of around 18.5% in the body cholesterol level. This herb has luteolin, an antioxidant effective in lowering the body's bad cholesterol. Artichoke leaf also contains cybarin, which has the ability to speed up the elimination of cholesterol through the feces and to facilitate the production of bile in the liver. Since the early 1950s, doctors have used medications with cybarin to lower their patients' cholesterol level.

4. Garlic - One of garlic's many uses is its ability to lower bad (LDL) cholesterol levels and at the same time promote the levels of good (HDL) cholesterol levels. It can lower LDL levels by as much as 15% (for those who eat one clove a day). Garlic is also able to lower your body's blood pressure and triglyceride levels. In some parts of Europe, this is an herb approved as a solution for high cholesterol.

5. Alfalfa - When it comes to fighting cholesterol, saponin power rules! Saponin is an effective agent against cholesterol. And with Alfalfa sprouts containing 55% more saponins than other plants, alfafa is an efficient cholesterol-lowering herb. Saponin works by combining itself with cholesterol, thereby preventing the body from absorbing it. Thus, alfalfa fights blood cholesterol by first lowering it directly and then by preventing more cholesterol from being absorbed by the gut. What's more, it is selective in its fight against cholesterol. It fights LDL (bad cholesterol) even as it promotes HDL (good cholesterol). When buying alfalfa extracts, try to ensure that the extracts come from the sprout and not the roots, as the roots have lower saponin content.

Herbs are an excellent way of lowering cholesterol, as they may be safer than medications used for the same purpose. But of course, you should always ask your doctor before taking any herb as this may result in complications from other medications you are currently taking.

Article Source: http://www.article-gems.com/

Further reading: Gain more insight into ways to lower cholesterol plus herbs to lower cholesterol - click on the links for more details.

Please Rate The Above Article From The Alternative health Category
Article Title: Lower Your Cholesterol Naturally With These 5 Herbs

5 out of 54 out of 53 out of 52 out of 51 out of 5 

# of Ratings = 1 | Rating = 5/5

Syndicate Alternative health Related Articles Via RSS!

Boost your websites' search engine ranking! Attract more repeat visitors!
Automatically, consistently update your content via Really Simple Syndication (RSS). To syndicate the above article and other Alternative health related articles on your blog or site, simply click on the XML Icon above to grab the RSS feed -- It's FREE!