There are a lot of misconceptions, and outright false information on how cholesterol levels effect your heart. For the past four decades the common wisdom has been that there were two types of cholesterol. High density lipoproteins or HDL, the ”good” cholesterol, or low density lipoproteins or LDL, the ”bad” cholesterol.

Research has shown that it is not so much the cholesterol that can have a negative effect on the heart, but the carrier of the cholesterol…the lipoproteins. In fact, the Framingham Heart Study done in 1977 found that in men and women 50 and older, “total cholesterol per se is not a risk for coronary heart disease at all.”

So why do we believe that LDL and saturated fats are so bad for us? This is due to studies that showed eating saturated fats increased the amount of LDL cholesterol in the blood. This led to the assumption that it was the saturated fat that was the culprit. The assumption is false as clinical trials have shown there is no compelling evidence that saturated fat in the diet causes heart disease.

Another reason for the belief that LDL is bad are drugs like Zocor and Lipitor which lower LDL cholesterol and also prevent heart attacks. This is understood as cause and effect, and is so prevalent that the FDA now approves drugs to prevent heart disease based solely on evidence they lower LDL cholesterol. The problem is these drugs have multiple actions and it is like saying aspirin prevents heart attacks by getting rid of headaches.

Recent testing, such as the trials of Vytorin and torcetrapib, a drug that both lowers LDL while raising HDL…which was halted before completion as it appeared to cause both heart attacks and strokes…have not proven the cause and effect of LDL on heart disease. Estrogen replacement also lowers LDL, but has had no positive impact on lowering heart disease. The same is true for eating less saturated fat.

Statins may be effective as they reduce inflammation, which is considered a risk for heart disease. They also help to keep the walls of the arteries healthy. Statins also have an effect on the lipoproteins themselves. They reduce the number of low density lipoproteins in the blood, including the most dangerous form of LDL, which are very small and dense lipoproteins.

So what are we to make of these seemingly conflicting claims and counter-claims? First we need to to examine our assumptions on how to deal with the problem of heart disease, which is at epidemic proportions in much of the world. We need to get rid of the idea that all of our health needs can be found in a bottle.

Physical activity done at a level that triggers the natural energy cycle and balance that we all possess will determine our diet. We have been putting the cart before the horse. Diet is secondary and completely dependent on your activity level. The primary source of so many of our current health problems is our sedentary life-style.

A healthy heart is an active heart. It really is that simple. No rocket science here, just the common sense that we all possess but have been lulled into abandoning in the tidal wave of hype coming from the interests that care much more about making money then they do about our health.

There are some other steps needed at the same time to ensure that your cholesterol is in correct balance. Ideally what you want to achieve is to not only lower LDL (bad) cholesterol, but also raise HDL (good) cholesterol, and in addition to that get your body working so that any excess cholesterol that is in the blood is either dissolved or turned into bile salts so it can be excreted from the body.

This leaves us with a choice of two ways how to lower cholesterol with herbs and they are a) take individual herbs to achieve each of the desired outcomes, or b) use a natural blended supplement which has various herbs etc… in it which can help our bodies do what is required and are blended together in the right quantities to form one single supplement. Of course of the two we want to use option b as it will work out cheaper and easier to do.

So now that we know a blended supplement is the most effective way how to lower cholesterol with herbs, what ingredients should we be looking for in the supplement? Well, there are various options, but ideally you want your blended supplement to contain the following proven cholesterol controlling ingredients;-

1. Policosanol – This is extracted from various sources including rice bran and beeswax, and it has been found to be so effective at reducing LDL production that it has been compared to statins just without all of the nasty side effects. It works because it contains an alcohol within it and this alcohol helps to increase HDL as well as prevent the liver from producing too much of the enzyme that creates LDL.
2. Lecithin – This helps you in a couple of ways, firstly it helps to dissolve LDL cholesterol in the blood, and secondly it stops excess LDL being absorbed by turning it into bile salts which are then excreted.
3. Phytosterols – These are plant based sterols which are very similar in molecular structure to cholesterol. With this being the case what happens is that they end out competing for the same space to be absorbed in to the gastrointestinal tract as the cholesterol, therefore less cholesterol is absorbed.
4. Theaflavins – These are derived from fermented green tea, and they have two roles to play. First of all they increase HDL and decrease LDL, additionally they are also very strong anti – oxidants which means your body has less oxidized cholesterol floating around inside it.
5. Oryzanol – This is taken from the outer hull of rice and has many different properties in it that help to combat cholesterol. In summary though it is very effective at turning cholesterol into bile salts for excretion.
6. D-Limonene – Extracted from the skin of citrus fruit, this non toxic oil is a natural solvent which when it builds up in the liver inhibits the production of the cholesterol creating enzyme.

As mentioned earlier, you can get all of the above individually from health food stores, but as you can imagine it would probably be quite costly, and not only that it is a lot of supplements to take. And yes you could pick and choose individual supplements to take instead of all of them, however doing that would not be really be the most effective way how to lower cholesterol with herbs.