Keep Cholesterol in Check

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Blue, purple and red berries, as well as purple grapes and their juices, contain these bioflavonoids. Research shows that 8 to 10 ounces per day of red grape juice protects the vessels, without the risks associated with alcohol. Likewise, grapeseed extract, which concentrates these potent bioflavonoid antioxidants, has been shown to lower cholesterol deposits in the arteries of animals.

Take time to relax. Intuition and scientific research support the notion that hostility and anxiety stress the cardiovascular system, and that a mellow state of mind can mend it. One study, published in a 1999 issue of the Journal of Psychosomatic Research, looked at the impact of “daily hassles.” As hassles rose, the total cholesterol-to-HDL cholesterol ratio increased. According to a study published in the journal Stroke, transcendental meditation has been shown to reduce stress, blood pressure, cholesterol and atherosclerosis.

All these basic lifestyle changes are critical to heart health — and they work. The Harvard School of Public Health’s Nurses’ Health Study confirms that women who don’t smoke, keep their weight down, exercise at least 30 minutes daily and eat healthy food reduce their chances of developing heart disease by a whopping 82 percent.

Second Measures

People with borderline high cholesterol may want to add herbs and vitamins to the above regimen, and those who have documented high cholesterol may want to take a prescription medication to get their levels under control. McDougall says when his patients can’t control cholesterol with lifestyle changes, he recommends natural remedies such as garlic, oat bran and niacin. He reserves prescription medications for those people who continue to have high cholesterol levels and other heart disease risks.

B vitamins. Niacin, also called vitamin B3, raises HDL cholesterol and lowers LDL cholesterol and triglycerides. It also raises homocysteine levels, but nonetheless, reduces the risk of death due to heart disease. McDougall calls niacin, “the most potent drug available to raise HDL cholesterol.”

In a 1994 study published in the Archives of Internal Medicine, niacin was compared to the cholesterol-lowering drug lovastatin. The drug produced a greater reduction in LDL cholesterol (32 percent versus 23 percent for niacin), but niacin increased HDL cholesterol much more than lovastatin (by 33 percent versus 7 percent for lovastatin). For this reason, niacin often is combined with statin medications, which are drugs that lower LDL cholesterol.

Other B vitamins play a role in lowering blood levels of homocysteine, which is another risk factor for cardiovascular disease. Maintaining adequate dietary intake of folic acid, vitamin B6 and vitamin B12 can help keep homocysteine levels in check. In people with atherosclerosis, supplements of folic acid (2.5 mg), vitamin B6 (25 mg) and vitamin B12 (250 micrograms [mcg]) induced regression of atherosclerosis, according to a 2000 study from the American Journal of Hypertension. A 2001 Archives of Internal Medicine study found the optimal dosage of folic acid is 800 mcg per day.

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