herbalist's shop

Reduce Cholesterol with Natural Remedies

Nature offers a variegated world of beneficial plants, capable of lightening various types of disorders: it is then up to man to be able to interpret these gifts of nature in the best possible way.

High cholesterol

High cholesterol is a problem that afflicts many people, especially the elderly, whose cause lies in poor nutrition and lack of physical activity, associated with the inevitable genetic predisposition, which - in this case plays - a decidedly important role (see hypercholesterolemes familiar).

Natural remedies

If the levels of cholesterol in the blood are not too high, or only a slight alteration occurs, the anti-cholesterol drugs could be replaced with natural remedies for cholesterol-lowering action.

In the article "high cholesterol: herbal remedies" we focused on the modalities of action of natural products useful to prevent or counteract the increase in bad cholesterol. In this article we will focus on possible herbal alternatives.

The herbalist expert could advise the patient of a combined product: for example, dandelion, artichoke, olive and policosanol could constitute a first product, while in the second one could include drugs such as fish oil and vitamin E, embellished with lemon essential oils. In this way, the action will be twofold, because the decrease in lipid absorption will be combined with the weakening of the endogenous fat synthesis.

Dandelion and artichoke

The first product is expressed by these plants:

  • Dandelion ( Taraxacum officinale ) is a plant that has digestive and diuretic properties: in fact, the lactone sesquiterpenes contained in it are bitter active ingredients that promote digestion and tone the pancreas and the liver. Furthermore, the dandelion is made up of phenylpropanes (like caffeic acid) which are able to stimulate the glomerulus, consequently they act as diuretics. The dandelion promotes the bile elimination of excess cholesterol and reduces its absorption thanks to the richness of phytosterols and soluble fibers.
  • Artichoke ( Cynara scolymus ) is characterized by organic active ingredients, lactone sesquiterpenes, flavonoids and caffeoil quinic molecules (caffeic acid esterified with quinic acid gives rise to cinarines). For these constituents, the artichoke is configured as an excellent eupeptic: an altered digestion could be a cause of the lipid disorder. Moreover, the artichoke stimulates gastric, salivary, intestinal and hepatic secretion (thanks to the lactone sesquiterpenes and to the caffeoil quinic substances); hepatic and pancreatic functions are favored by flavonoids and quinic acid, which therefore confer choleretic and cholagogue properties. Finally, the artichoke acts on the assimilation and metabolization of lipid substances; its cholesterol-lowering action is similar to that seen for the dandelion.
  • Olive ( Olea europaea ): in this case the olive extract refers to the flavonoids obtained from the leaves, not to the acetylenic substances present in olive oil (fatty acids). The olive gives a good diuretic, hypocholesterolemic action and modifies the assimilation capacity of lipid substances: this last function is even better expressed by the policosanols extracted from rice.

Fish oil and Vit. E

The second product is used to strengthen the action expressed by the policosanols present in the first:

  • Fish oil : rich in essential fatty acids, it has a hypo-triglyceridemic action (lowers triglycerides in the blood).
  • Vitamin E : (intact tocopherols and tocotrienols) works by counteracting free radicals, with an antioxidant activity.
  • Essential oils of lemon (or citrus fruits in general): they promote digestion by stimulating gastric and hepatic secretion.

Another natural remedy

As an alternative to this combination product, in herbal medicine you can also buy other types of formulations: if a person, besides having high cholesterol problems, is overweight, is hypertensive and has water retention, it would be useful for example to recommend a product formulated with dandelion, borage, gamma oryzanol and policosanol.

  • Dandelion ( Taraxacum officinale ): as we have already analyzed, it is a diuretic and digestive, with potential cholesterol-lowering properties.
  • Borage ( Borago officinalis ): it is a herbaceous plant source of minerals (potassium, calcium), tannins, palmitic acid, flavonoids and especially essential fatty acids such as linoleic acid (from which omega-6 is derived) and gamma-linolenic acid. Therefore, borage extract is used for the treatment of hypertension and high cholesterol.
  • Gamma-oryzanol : extracted from rice bran, it acts on the lipid absorption capacity. This substance is suitable for people who take a greater amount of fat than the one indicated by the doctor, because they cannot do without it. Gamma oryzanol could also promote the physiological recovery of triglyceride levels.
  • Policosanols : they modify the capacity of assimilation of lipid substances. In this way, the policosanols fortify the activity already expressed by the gamma oryzanol. These active ingredients have a positive effect on cholesterol levels in the blood, both by inhibiting the production of endogenous cholesterol and by limiting its synthesis. Furthermore, policosanols also demonstrate positive effects for the improvement of cardiovascular functions.

How to hire them

The expert must direct the customer not only towards the choice of the most suitable product for his organism, but also towards the best use methods: in the case of the combined product, the tablets should be taken twice a day before the meal. The habit of taking the tablets before lunch and dinner is also important to draw the attention of the person: ingesting a product before the meal should in fact take the form of a device to remind you that you suffer from hypercholesterolemia; consequently, it would be useless and wrong to take the tablets and then binge on fatty and high-calorie foods: in this case, the natural remedy would not be able to reduce blood cholesterol levels.