Natural Solutions for High Cholesterol
         
As many as 99.5 million Americans suffer from high cholesterols, according to the          American Heart Association. Our bodies need a certain amount of cholesterol to   function properly. While it has been well publicized that high cholesterol (over 200) can lead to an increased risk of heart disease and other health problems, it is not  as well known that extremely low cholesterol (under 130) can lead to hormonal imbalance and can indicate depression, malabsorption and malignancies.

Today, many people suffering from high cholesterol have turned to prescription medications. These medications often have undesirable side effects, including muscle pain, liver and kidney stress, sleep disturbance and sensitivity to light. From a Traditional Chinese Medicine perspective, such medications only temporarily mask the problem instead of addressing the dietary and lifestyle habits that cause high cholesterol in the first place.

As many recent studies have shown, there are some widely known ways of lowering your cholesterol:

• Decrease your intake of red meat. When a person consumes an excess of red meat, there are not enough digestive enzymes to break down the fat from the meat, which increases the amount of cholesterol in the body.
• Eat a variety of fiber-rich foods, including whole grains, vegetables and legumes. The fiber will help your body bind excess cholesterol and eliminate it through bowel movements.
• Exercise regularly (at least 30 minutes per day) to maintain your body’s metabolism, which aids in processing cholesterol efficiently.

In order to manage cholesterol, from a Traditional Chinese Medicine viewpoint, in addition to eating properly it is important to take care of your liver, since the liver is the organ that primarily manufactures cholesterol.

• Drink alcohol only in moderation to reduce stress on the liver so that it can produce sufficient bile to break down fatty foods.
• Foods that have a sour flavor support liver and gallbladder function and help break down excess cholesterol from the diet, so add a splash of balsamic vinegar to your food or squeeze a slice of lemon in your water. Bitter tasting foods like mustard greens, dandelion and arugula have the same cholesterol-lowering function.
• Chinese herbs such as hawthorn berries are known to lower cholesterol.

In my experience of treating patients, I have discovered some additional ways of managing cholesterol:

• I recommend you take 15 to 30 seconds to say a gratitude prayer prior to and after eating. This will allow your liver, pancreas and gallbladder to secrete the sufficient digestive to break down food.
• Healthy oils like sesame, black currant and grape seed oil can be beneficial in lowering cholesterol.
• Chrysanthemum flower tea helps lower cholesterol by detoxifying the liver.

“By following Dr. Wonson’s advice, I have lost 21 pounds and my cholesterol level has gone from 276 to 184 in just a few months. All in all, a very positive outcome for a 75-year-old!”
--Ms. Helen Kopas, patient

For additional information regarding managing cholesterol, including workshops on this topic and the above-mentioned herbs and supplements, please contact my office.