Can Supplements Help To Lower Your Cholesterol?

Diet and exercise are the main ways to reduce cholesterol in the body. Cholesterol-reducing supplements can help in this too. But if you’re tensed about your cholesterol levels and have started exercising and eating healthy foods, you might think if a dietary supplement can help.

What Effect Can Supplements Have On Your Cholesterol?

It is a waxy, fat-like substance that is usually found in all the cells in your body. The body needs cholesterol to make hormones, vitamin D, and other materials that help you in digesting foods.

Your body is sufficient enough to make all the cholesterol it needs for itself. Cholesterol can also be obtained in food items from animals, such as eggs, meat, and cheese.

If the cholesterol in your blood is more than required, it combines with other components in the blood which forms plaque. The plaque sticks to the walls of your arteries this build-up of the plaque is called atherosclerosis. It can cause coronary artery diseases, in which the coronary arteries become narrow or even blocked due to the diseases. 

The causes of cholesterol are:-

• Unhealthy eating habits – Unhealthy eating habits can lower the good cholesterol levels in the body and increase the level of bad cholesterol levels of the body. 
• Lack of physical activity – With increasing sitting activities and little to no exercise HDL cholesterol levels decrease in the body.
• Smoking – We already know smoking is injurious to health. Smoking lowers HDL cholesterol, especially in women. It increases your LDL cholesterol levels in the body. 

Supplements And Cholesterol

Dietary supplements can be helpful, you can also require prescript medicines to get your cholesterol levels to a healthy level. Remember to tell the doctor if you consume any kind of supplement, because some can interrupt the medicines you may be taking. 

How To Change The Diet In Order To Regulate Cholesterol? 

There are some changes that you can implement in your diet:- 

✅ Reduce saturated fats – Saturated fats are mainly found in red meat and full-fat milk products increase your total cholesterol levels. Lowering the consumption of saturated fats can lower your low-density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol which is termed bad cholesterol.

✅ Eliminate trans fats. Trans fats are termed on food labels as “partially hydrogenated vegetable oil,” these are used for margarine and store-bought cookies and biscuits, crackers, and cakes. Trans fats increase the overall cholesterol levels of the body. The FDA has banned and Illegalised the use of partially hydrogenated vegetable oils. 

✅ Eat foods rich in omega-3 fatty acids. Omega-3 fatty acids are not shown to affect LDL cholesterol. They have other heart benefits, including a reduction of blood pressure. The foods which have omega-3 fatty acids are salmon, mackerel, walnuts flaxseeds, etc. 

✅ Increase soluble fiber– Soluble fiber can decrease the absorption of cholesterol in your blood. Soluble fiber is found in foods such as oats, kidney beans, sprouts, apples, etc. 

✅ Add whey protein. Whey protein is the type of protein that is found in milk products it may provide many health benefits similar to dairy products. Studies have shown that whey protein supplements lower LDL cholesterol and total cholesterol as well as blood pressure. Whey protein supplements provide you with high-quality protein for the body and muscle growth. 

Conclusion

Cholesterol is a problem for a large mass of people the diseases caused by its mismanagement are better avoided.

Therefore maintaining cholesterol levels is the best option for people. Treating cholesterol with nutrition is the best way rather than using supplements.

This is so as supplements can aid the process but the process is completed with the natural aids provided with diet and exercises.