What You Need to Know About Cholesterol

We keep hearing about cholesterol every day, especially when we talk about diets, but do we really know what it is and what its health significance is? Furthermore, can dietary supplements such as ProFibe really help in reducing cholesterol levels?

Found in our blood plasma and body tissues, cholesterol is fatty lipid that is only scantily soluble in water. It is found in the spinal cord, the brain, and the liver (the body's most notable cholesterol biosynthesis site). Cholesterol can also be found in the reproductive organs and the adrenal glands.

Via a number of enzymatic reactions, it serves as a precursor for the production of different steroid hormones, sex hormones, and Vitamin D3 after it is synthesized from acetic acid. It is excreted as bile from the liver and in some cases form as gall stones in the gall bladder when it crystallizes.

When plaques of cholesterol and lipids deposit and build up on the interior of major blood vessels, mainly due to cholesterol's water insolubility, atherosclerosis occurs. This condition is generally linked to coronary artery disease, of which nearly 1,000,000 die each year.

Researchers believe that the profusion of some protein complexes known as lipoproteins may be responsible for the buildup of cholesterol in our blood vessels. Lipoproteins attach to cholesterol and are of two types: High-density lipoprotein (HDL) and low-density lipoprotein (LDL).

The former transports cholesterol out of our bloodstream to be excreted, while the latter brings it back to the system to be used by different cells. ProFibe, a flavorless supplement made from citrus pectin and guar gum, lowers the levels of LDLs (so-called "bad" cholesterol) and reduces soft plaque in the arteries by as much as 30% or more.

Although one of the risk factors of heart disease is heredity, which of course, we can't do anything about, there are also risk factors over which we have control - exercise, stress, smoking, and diet. By purposefully observing healthy living, deaths due to heart disease can be reduced by as much as 80%.

ProFibe is a wonderful adjunct to the prescription drugs currently being taken by patients with high cholesterol levels. Some examples of these are "statins", the known HMG-CoA reductase inhibitors (atorvastatin and lovastatin). ProFibe can safely be taken with other medications, such as pravachol, zocor, mevacor, or questran, as ProFibe functions differently.

It is important to remember that you must continue to take your prescription medications even as a further lowering of cholesterol is noted after the consumption of ProFibe. If you feel that you can do away with these drugs because of a significant decrease in LDLs caused by ProFibe, always consult your physician first.

Suzi Parsell writes about natural health remedies. If you have high cholesterol levels, you run the risk of having heart problems. To learn more about profibeinsider.com Profibe, a water-soluble fiber supplement derived from grapefruit rinds, and how it can help in lowering cholesterol levels, visit profibeinsider.com ProfibeInsider.com.

ezinearticles.com/?Grapefruit-Fiber-and-Lower-Cholesterol---Is-There-a-Connection?&id=885864 Grapefruit Fiber and Cholesterol