Best Cholesterol Control Supplements – Five Important Factors That Cause Health Problems

The best cholesterol control supplements address five of six different factors that cause health problems. The average products might address two or three, at most. Here’s a look at the factors that contribute to heart disease and hardening of the arteries. An increased risk of heart disease is the reason that we care about cholesterol balance and total blood triglycerides, in the first place.

Production

About 80% of the HDL and LDL particles circulating in your bloodstream are produced by your liver. The rest comes from the foods that you eat. That’s the sixth factor that cannot be addressed with a nutritional supplement. Reducing your intake of cholesterol-containing foods is important, but can only lower your total level by about 10%.

Some people’s livers produce more particles than others. Dietary and genetic factors are likely to blame for that.

Statin drugs block the pathway by which the body produces cholesterol, but in so doing, they inhibit the production of coenzyme Q10, as well. Unless you typically eat fish hearts or red herring flesh or take a COQ10 supplement, you are not consuming COQ10. So, your body must be allowed to produce it.

Otherwise, the cells of your muscles and organs will gradually die off. COQ10 is essential to every cell of the body.

Policosanol, a compound extracted from raw sugar cane, has proven to be as effective as statin drugs for inhibiting the body’s production of cholesterol, but it does not interfere with the body’s COQ10 production.

So, the best cholesterol control supplements contain policosanol.

Absorption

Cholesterols are absorbed through the gastrointestinal tract. Lecithin, a fatty substance found in soybeans and other plant foods, inhibits the absorption of cholesterols from the foods that you eat. That doesn’t mean that you can eat anything that you want and still be healthy. Even the best cholesterol control supplements are merely aids. They are not magic pills.

Research indicates that the foods to avoid are those that contain partially hydrogenated vegetable oils, otherwise known as trans-fatty acids. The body lacks the enzymes necessary to process them, because they are unnatural. Thus, they spend too much time in the bloodstream.

Excretion

Rice bran oil, as well as the beta-sitosterol it contains, has been shown to covert cholesterol into bile acids, which can easily be excreted from the body. Other phytosterols (plant compounds similar to cholesterols) like beta-sitosterol have been shown to increase the levels of HDL particles, which gather up and carry away the LDL particles.

So, the best cholesterol control supplements contain phytosterols and rice bran oil.

Circulation

Decreasing the circulation of total fats or triglycerides is just as important as increasing HDL levels and lowering LDL levels. Theaflavins and catechins, found in various kinds of teas, have been shown to lower total circulating triglycerides and help to balance the HDL to LDL ratio.

Oxidation (Hardening)

This is the deadly factor. Fats circulating are not a problem. It is the ones that become oxidized or hardened that clog the arteries, causing heart attacks and strokes.

The best cholesterol control supplements contain antioxidants like vitamin E oil, as well as the other compounds mentioned here. A supplement like that could ultimately save your life.