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Cholesterol, a yellowish fatty substance, is one of the essential ingredients of the body. Although it is essential to life, it has a bad reputation, being a major villain in heart disease. Every person with high blood cholesterol is regarded as a potential candidate for heart attack or a stroke. Most of the cholesterol found in the body is produced in the liver. However, about twenty to thirty per cent generally comes from the food we eat. Cholesterol is measured in milligrams per 100 millimetres of blood. The normal level of cholesterol varies between 150 – 200 mg per 100 ml. In blood, cholesterol occurs in combination with certain lipids (fats), hence, known as lipoptroteins. There are two main types of lipoproteins: a low density one (LDL) and a high density one (HDL). The low density lipoprotein is the one which is considered harmful and is associated with cholesterol deposits in blood vessels. The higher the ratio of LDL to the total cholesterol, the greater will be the risk of arterial damage and heart disease. HDL, on the other hand, plays a salutory role by helping remove cholesterol from circulation and thereby reducing the risk of heart disease.

Causes:

Hereditary:
Hypercholesterolaemia or increase in cholesterol is mainly a hereditary disorder.

Excessive consumption of rich foods:
It is also caused by taking rich foods and fried foods: excessive consumption of milk and its products like clarified butter, butter, and cream; white flour, sugar, cakes, pastries, biscuits, cheese, and ice cream; and non-vegetarian foods like meat, fish, and eggs.

Smoking, Drinking and Stress:
Other causes of increase in cholesterol are irregularity in habits, smoking and drinking alcohol. Stress has also been found to be a major cause of increased level of cholesterol.

Symptoms of High Blood Cholesterol:

Following are the major high blood cholesterol symptoms:

1. General fatigue
2. Excess sweating and feel of uneasiness
3. Pain and heaviness in chest area
4. Breathlessness

Home Remedies:

High Blood Cholesterol treatment using Lecithin:
Lecithin, also a fatty food substance and the most abundant of the phospholipids, is beneficial in case of increase in cholesterol level. It has the ability to break up cholesterol into small particles which can be easily handled by the system. With sufficient intake of lecithin, cholesterol cannot build up against the walls of the arteries and veins. Lecithin also increases the production of bile acids made from cholesterol, thereby reducing its amount in the blood, Egg yolk, vegetable oils, wholegrain cereals, soyabeans, and unpasturised milk are rich sources of lecithin. The cells of the body are also capable of synthesizing it as needed, if several of the B vitamins are present.

High Blood Cholesterol treatment using Vitamins:
Vitamins B6, choline, and inositol are particularly effective in reducing the level of blood cholesterol. Wheat germ, yeast, or vitamin B extracted from bran contain high quantities of these vitamins. Vitamin E also elevates blood lecithin and reduces cholesterol. The patient should take liberal quantities of vitamin E-rich foods such as sunflower seeds, safflower, soyabean oils, butter, and sprouted seed and grains.

High Blood Cholesterol treatment using Coriander Seeds:
Regular drinking of a decoction of coriander seeds helps lower blood cholesterol. It is a good diuretic and helps stimulate the kidneys. It is prepared by boiling two tablespoons of dry seeds in a glass of water and straining the decoction after cooling. This decoction should be taken twice daily.

High Blood Cholesterol treatment using Fibre:
The amount of fibre in the diet also influences the cholesterol levels and LDL cholesterol can be lowered by taking diets rich in fibres. The most significant sources of dietary fibre are unprocessed wheat bran, whole cereals such as wheat, rice, barley, rye; legumes such as potatoes, carrots, beet, and turnips, fruits such as mangoes and guavas; and leafy vegetables such as cabbage, ladys fingers, lettuce and celery. Oat bran and corn bran are specially beneficial in lowering LDL cholesterol.

High Blood Cholesterol treatment using Coriander Seeds:
Regular drinking of a decoction of coriander seeds helps lower blood cholesterol. It is a good diuretic and helps stimulate the kidneys. It is prepared by boiling two tablespoons of dry seeds in a glass of water and straining the decoction after cooling. This decoction should be taken twice daily.

Herbal Remedies for High Blood Cholesterol

1. Eat garlic regularly. It is an effective herbal remedy for lowering cholesterol
2. Take 3 grams of mixture of giloye with black pepper powder twice a day. It is also an effective herbal remedy for lowering cholesterol
3. Taking one tablespoon of honey is also good for lowering cholesterol
4. Take guggulu for natural cholesterol lowering
5. Take one teaspoon of oil of the ishabgul seeds twice a day. It will help in lowering blood cholesterol

We should all be grateful to the ancient Chinese for introducing to us the many wonders of the simple yet pleasurable cup of green tea.

Many many years ago in ancient China, green tea was known to cure headaches and depression. Nowadays, the benefits of green tea is making it popular and has increased the number of people regularly drinking this soothing drink.

Tea is actually available in many forms and varieties but basically there are three distinctively different types.

All tea, whether black, green, or red, comes from the leaves of a warm weather evergreen called Camellia Sinensis. The difference comes in when the leaves are processed.

The more processed the leaves are, the darker the tea becomes, which means that green tea has had the least processing.

Green tea is usually processed by quickly steaming the leaves, while black and red teas are dried, crushed and fermented, making them appear stronger and more potent.

Don’t be fooled by this obvious feature, as many believe that the closer it is to its natural state, the more valuable the medicinal and healing properties.

All tea is known to contain polyphenols which is known for giving tea its antioxidant properties and antioxidants are believed to protect our bodies from free radical damage.

ORAC score is used to measure antioxidant amounts, and tea scores higher than many fruits and vegetables. Because of this, you should seriously consider including tea in your daily diet.

In addition to preventing unwanted blood clotting, it has been shown that polyphenols may lower cholesterol levels. Drinking four to six cups a day may also decrease the risk of gastric, esophageal and skin cancers. A simple internet search will give you a long list of ailments, aches, and pains that can be cured through the daily intake of this non-prescription drink.

Among the ailments that have been cured are cancer, heart disease, rheumatoid arthritis, and impaired immune functions.

The benefits of drinking green tea also extends to the treatment of digestive disorders, Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s while raising metabolism and increasing fat oxidation. It has also been found to help prevent tooth decay by killing the bacteria which causes dental plaque.

Whatever your purpose for drinking green tea, it is obvious that everyone can get some benefit from daily intake.

You should be aware however, that not all of the more marketable “herbal teas” are tea at all because many have already been mixed with herbs and spices and other plant parts for flavoring.

They do not contain the health promoting qualities of Camellia Sinensis. Be careful when buying these products. Check the ingredients to make sure you are buying the product that you expect.

“Open your heart to me, my own,” whispers Grandmother Growth so softly you aren’t certain you hear her. “Open the wisdom way of compassion here in your heart and draw me inside. Let Grandmother Growth be inside you, helping you encompass the whole, in the beat of your own heart, my heart, Crone’s heart.” Step 0: Do Nothing Thinking of taking hormone replacement to keep your heart healthy? Think again. Data released in April of the year 2000, from the federal government’s Women’s Health Initiative, showed “a small increase in the number of heart attacks, strokes and blood clots in the lungs of women on hormone replacement compared with women on placebo.” The Heart and Estrogen/Progestin Replacement Study (HERS), completed in 1998, found the same connection. For a healthy heart, don’t take hormones. “Recently released data from the federal government’s Women’s Health Initiative suggests that during the first two years of postmenopausal hormone replacement therapy there is a slightly greater risk of heart attack, stroke and blood clots.” Heart disease is America’s top killer (claiming a life every 34 seconds). Women aged 30-50 have far less risk of heart disease than a man their age. But postmenopausal women die from heart disease at rates as high as men’s. (Women account for 51 percent of all cardiovascular deaths; men, 49 percent.) Is it lack of estrogen? No. Estrogen does lower LDL cholesterol and increase HDL cholesterol, but cholesterol is only weakly linked to heart disease, especially in women. (Most heart attacks happen to people with normal cholesterol levels.) Estrogen raises blood pressure (one of the top three reasons for heart attacks in women), increases triglycerides, promotes clotting (a leading factor in heart attacks and strokes), and raises levels of C-reactive protein (a marker for inflammation associated with heart disease). Take progestins/progesterone too and you increase your risk of heart disease even more. Hormone replacement really isn’t heart healthy. Aren’t there studies linking estrogen usage to lowered risk of heart disease? Only retrospective ones, which cannot establish a cause-and-effect link. And the women in those studies ate well, exercised regularly, and were unlikely to smoke – behaviors that are critical to heart health. The simple truth is more than 90 percent of all heart disease is preventable with lifestyle choices. The three top risk factors for heart disease in women are too much belly fat, smoking, and untreated hypertension. High cholesterol is one of the top three risk factors for men, but not for women. (This is because, after menopause, we make heart healthy hormones from our cholesterol.) Step 1: Collect Information The Nurses Health Study – which followed 86,000 women for 14 years – shows what happens to those wise old Crones who follow heart healthy behaviors:

• Those who ate more fish than meat, plus plenty of whole grains, beans, leafy greens, fruits, and vegetables reduced their risk of heart disease by one-third compared to those who ate a “normal” American diet. Eating one serving a day of whole-grain foods reduced heart attacks by 34 percent in another study of 34,000 postmenopausal women.
• Those who ate at least 5 ounces of nuts a week were only half as likely to have a heart attack as those who ate none.
• Women who walked a total of three hours per week or who exercised vigorously for at least 90 minutes a week had one third fewer heart attacks than women who got no exercise. Those who walked five or more hours a week cut their risk in half.

Step 2: Engage the Energy

• Rose flower essence and rose quartz essence are both recommended for engaging the energy of the heart.
• Do you attack your heart? Do you close your heart to protect it? Love yourself. Give yourself plenty of nice strokes so you won’t have a bad stroke. Try Stephen Levine’s meditation “Opening the Heart” in Who Dies?
• People in Hawaii, New Mexico, and Arizona have the healthiest hearts in the United States. Imagine you live there.
• Smile! Depression increases your risk of both heart attack and stroke. In fact, severe depression is more strongly linked to stroke risk than high blood pressure, high cholesterol, smoking cigarettes, being overweight, and nine other known risk factors. When you smile, your brain makes hormones that make you, and your heart, feel good. So, smile.

Step 3: Nourish & Tonify

• Touch and be touched. In numerous scientific studies, people who were touched lovingly every day had significantly fewer heart problems than those who weren’t.
• Nuts to heart attacks. The fats in nuts have been linked to a reduced risk of heart attacks. Volunteers on high-fat diets (35-40 percent of calories nuts and olive oil) lowered their LDL cholesterol by 13 percent. Greek women do the same, and have one of the lowest rates of heart disease in the world.
• Essential fatty acids, especially omega-3s, are ever so essential to a healthy heart. Look for them in fish (salmon, sardines, trout, herring are highest), seeds, whole grains, beans, and nuts. They are especially abundant in wild seeds such as plantain, lamb’s quarter, and amaranth. And in freshly ground flax seeds. Women who consume the EFA alpha-linolenic acid daily have the lowest risk of a fatal heart attack.
• Keep your heart healthy with regular use of seaweeds. Seaweeds have clinically proven cardiotonic effects: they stabilize blood pressure; regulate levels of triglycerides, phospholipids, and cholesterols; prolong the life of the heart muscle; and encourage a steady heartbeat.
• Women who regularly eat foods rich in carotenes cut their risk of stroke by 40 percent. Women who eat broccoli at least once a week have roughly half the risk of heart disease as women who eat none.
• Eliminating or limiting carbohydrates, especially refined flours and sugars, has halved the cholesterol of several friends whose totals were above 400. “What emerges is a clear association of heart disease with … consumption of devitalized, processed, fabricated food items, including sugar and fructose, soft drinks, fortified white flour, milk and egg powders, caffeine, imitation broth products, synthetic vitamins, vegetable oils, and hydrogenated fats.” – Sally Fallon
• Garlic, Knoblauch, Ail (Allium sativum) is a great friend to old hearts. Several cloves a day of fresh, raw garlic can lower blood pressure, reduce phospholipids and cholesterol, strengthen heart action, increase immune response, reduce platelet clumping and clotting (thus reducing strokes), and stabilize blood sugar levels. Don’t like raw garlic? Use powdered! A four-year study found women who ingested 900 mg (1/4 teaspoonful) of garlic powder daily had 18 percent less arterial plaque than those taking a placebo.
• Hawthorn berry tincture is the standard herbal heart tonic, and for good reason. It is broadly effective, virtually without overdose, and easy to make from fresh or dried berries. An elegant shrub or small tree, hawthorn is frequently cultivated in the suburbs. Injectable forms of Crataegus were used by MDs up until the 1950s to treat vascular heart disease, high blood pressure, inflammation of the heart muscle, and arteriosclerosis. The action of hawthorn is slow but complete. It strengthens the heart, establishes a regular heartbeat, relieves water build-up around the heart, and resolves stress throughout the cardiovascular system. Dose is 25-40 drops of the berry tincture, up to 4 times a day. Expect results no sooner than 6-8 weeks.
• Motherwort, that dear friend of menopausal women, is a favorite heart tonic. A dose of 10-20 drops of the tincture of the flowering tops, taken up to three times a day, helps lower blood pressure, strengthen heart action, ease palpitations and irregular heartbeats, and make room in the heart for compassion.
• Keep your heart healthy by eating chocolate. Sound too good to be true? Despite its reputation, chocolate is loaded with heart healthy phytochemicals. Cocoa’s tretramers curb oxidation of the blood vessel walls, short-circuiting the build up of atherosclerotic plaque; they also help keep the vessels relaxed, keeping blood pressure down. Chocolate’s flavonoids are more powerful than vitamin C in limiting oxidation of LDL; they protect all lipids in the blood from free-radical damage. Procyanidins are flavonoids that work like mild aspirins, keeping the blood thin and free-flowing. Polyphenols are heart-healthy substances found abundantly in red wine, green tea, and chocolate. Daily use may prevent stroke by delaying blood clotting time. (75 ounces/20 grams of dark chocolate = one-half cup tea = one glass red wine.) Chocolate also prevents blood platelet fragmentation (which occurs when platelets get sticky), and boosts HDL (good) cholesterol. No wonder it often comes in heart-shaped boxes!
• Lemon balm is so strengthening to the heart, it is said those who drink it daily will live forever. Brew fresh or dried leaves in a cup of water for 5-10 minutes. Or steep fresh leaves in a glass of white wine for 1-2 hours and drink with dinner. Or enjoy 1-2 tablespoons/15-30 ml of the vinegar.
• You don’t have to sweat, but you do have to move to keep your heart healthy. However you can do it, do it; no excuses.
• Dandelion root tincture lowers blood pressure and keeps your heart and cardiovascular system healthy and happy. Use 10-15 drops with meals.
• If you eat meat, be sure to eat whole grains and beans. Homocysteine is concentrated in the blood of those who eat a lot of animal protein and don’t get enough B vitamins to process it completely.