Blood test results came back today from a 14 year old patient of mine. She had high cholesterol and her ratio of lipids showed a moderate risk of heart disease. What!? A 14 year old with high cholesterol! Yes, if you haven’t heard, we have an obesity problem in our country. Our children are having as hard a time losing weight and lowering cholesterol levels as adults. For kids, exercise and getting away from the sugar and processed foods can do wonders. For the rest of us, there are also other solutions in addition to diet and exercise.
If your numbers are high, there are many natural supplements you can use to help lower total cholesterol and LDL (the bad cholesterol). My favorite is red yeast rice which is made from cooked white rice fermented by the yeast Monascus purpureus. The main active ingredient in red yeast rice is lovastatin. Lovastatin inhibits the enzyme that initiates the production of cholesterol biosynthesis. This is probably not the only cholesterol-lowering agent in red yeast rice. There are also omega-3 fatty acids, isoflavones, and plant sterols. Find out more…