Symptoms

High blood cholesterol has no symptoms, but it is the underlying cause of atherosclerosis and cardiovascular diseases, such as heart attack or stroke.

 

What Is A High Blood Cholesterol Level?

From Modern Western Medicine

Blood cholesterol is measured as milligrams of cholesterol per deciliter of blood and written as mg/DL. Anything above 190 mg/dl is considered unsafe. On the other hand, research has shown that a cholesterol level of 180 mg/dL or lower is associated with very small or no risk of heart attack or stroke. An ideal cholesterol level is 160 mg/dL.

Cholesterol is carried on the backs of proteins. There are two types of proteins that are combined with cholesterol: Low-density lipoprotein (LDL), which causes atherosclerosis and heart disease, and high-density lipoprotein (HDL), which promotes the elimination of cholesterol from the body and thus is protective against cardiovascular disease.

Cholesterol level is influences by diet, heredity, and metabolic diseases, such as diabetes mellitus. Contrary to what many people believe, however, the number of people who have genetically high cholesterol is minute. Thus, the overwhelming majority of high cholesterol levels—greater than 95%—are the result of dietary and lifestyle factors. Most cholesterol levels can be lowered significantly by diet alone.

From Traditional Medicine

High cholesterol is unheard of among people who eat a traditional diet based on whole grains, fresh vegetables, beans, fruit and low-fat fish. The average Chinese man or woman has a cholesterol level of 154 mg/dL, and those living in the villages of China—even the elderly—have cholesterol levels far lower than the average, according to Cornell University researchers. High cholesterol is strictly a dietary and lifestyle condition that is easily remedied by adopting a diet based largely on vegetables on vegetable foods.

Remedies

General Recommendations

  • Eat whole grains, vegetables, fruit and low-fat fish.
  • Increase fiber, which lowers cholesterol.
  • Eat cholesterol-lowering foods and herbs (see page ??).
  • Support liver function. The liver metabolizes fat and cholesterol and turns them into LDL or HDL.

 

Foods to Eat

  • Whole grains, such as brown rice, barley, and oats
  • Dried beans (?)
  • Legumes
  • Fruit
  • Vegetables, especially leafy greens, broccoli, and roots
  • Omega-3 fatty acids, which are found in salmon, sardines, and other deep/cold-water fish
  • Onions: 1 – 2 oz. per day
  • Scallions
  • Garlic: 7 – 28 fresh bulbs per day

 

Foods to Avoid

  • Meat
  • Poultry
  • Eggs
  • Dairy products
  • All oils, even vegetable
  • Cigarettes

 

 Herbs to Treat High Cholesterol

  • Garlic, dried whole: 5 – 20 g per day
  • Garlic powder: 600 – 1350 mg per day
  • Gugulipid: 25 mg three times per day
  • Capsaicin: before meals as directed
  • Hawthorn: leaves, 80 mg two times per day; standardized extract, 100 – 200 mg per day

                       

Chinese Medicine

  • Ginkgo biloba: 400 mg, three times per day
  • Shiitake mushrooms
  • Reishi mushrooms

 

Supplements

  • Vitamins C: 100 – 500 mg per day
  • Vitamin E (dry form): 60 – 400 IU per day
  • Beta-carotene: 20 mg per day
  • Charcoal powder: 1 ½ – 2 tbsp. (8 grams) in water, three times per day
  • Water-soluble fiber from oats, brown rice, dried beans, legumes, and fruit

 

Mind/Body

Chronic stress raises cholesterol levels. Follow one of the meditation, visualizations, or positive imagining regimens provided in Part IV.