Reduce Your High Cholesterol With Essential Fatty Acids

Are you living with high cholesterol? Many people today are and they have to take medicines or supplements to control it. What is cholesterol, and how do you control it?

What Is Cholesterol?

Cholesterol is found in the body's blood stream and cells. About 75% of it is produced by the liver and about another 25% is produced by the foods we eat. We need cholesterol to produce cell membranes, a few hormones and other bodily functions. So it is important that we have cholesterol.

But if we consume or produce to much cholesterol we could damage our arteries. In fact, it could lead to clogged arteries and a heart attack. The cholesterol will settle in the arteries, turning into plaque, narrowing the arteries and restricting blood flow.

There are two types of cholesterol, low-density lipoprotein (LDL) and high-density lipoprotein (HDL). HDL is the good cholesterol that will help keep your bad cholesterol, LDL, under control.

The target levels of cholesterol in your blood is:

HDL - A measure of 60 mg/dl or higher is good to protect your heart against disease. Lower than 40 mg/dl could lead to heart disease.
LDL - Less than 200 mg/dl is best to reduce your risk from heart disease. Higher than 240 mg/dl, then you run the risk of heart disease. In fact, you are twice as likely to develop some sort of heart disease than if it was less than 200 mg/dl..

How To Control It?

If you are living with high LDL or low HDL, you probably need some help in controlling it. Your doctor has probably prescribed medications for you to control the LDL and HDL to reduce your risk of heart disease.

Ask your doctor about using Essential Fatty Acids (EFAs) to help control your cholesterol. EFA is believed to reduce LDL and increase HDL. EFAs can be found in cold-water fish such as salmon, trout, sardines and cod. You best know this as Omega - 3. Another place you can find EFAs is in fish oil supplements.

EFAs can also be obtained from vegetable sources, but it needs to be converted first to be of any good. The best source is fish oils.

Conclusion

Cholesterol is necessary for the body to function. Cholesterol comes from our liver and our diet, which is mainly from animal products. If our levels of cholesterol are out of their bounds, LDL above 240 mg/dl or HDL below 40 mg/dl, then we run the risk of developing heart disease.

Control of our cholesterol can be done by taking medications the doctor prescribes to us. The natural way to control our cholesterol is with EFAs. EFAs come from cold-water fish or they can be obtained from fish oil supplements.

Walter Chase made a life style change when he was 35. When that happened he started taking supplements, exercising, which included weight lifting and running. Walter started taking Omega - 3 supplements five years ago. Receive a free e-book all about Omega-3 at his web site goodfattyacids.com goodfattyacids.com/.