Increasingly larger numbers of people confronted with abnormal blood cholesterol levels eventually require treatments with statins or other similar cholesterol-lowering pharmaceutical drugs. While such medications are considered to be effective in preventing and reducing high blood cholesterol levels, they don’t produce dramatic results, generating less satisfactory effects in certain categories of people. In addition, most cholesterol-lowering drugs are known to cause serious side-effects, rendering long-term treatments with such medications very unsafe. Statins work by interfering directly with the activity of cholesterol-producing body enzymes and hormones, preventing the overproduction of cholesterol inside the organism. By altering the activity of enzymes and body hormones, such medications can lead to a wide range of undesirable effects, ranging from mild to very serious.

The good news is that cholesterol-lowering pharmaceutical drugs can be successfully replaced by vegetarian regimens. After accumulating and analyzing a vast amount of data regarding blood cholesterol and its risk factors, a team of Canadian medical researchers and nutritionists has come up with a very effective natural cure for high cholesterol: a special vegetarian diet. Although it may seem surprising, the food regimen established by the Canadian medical scientists has proved to be a very powerful and not to mention safe alternative to common cholesterol-lowering drugs. Combining the curative effects of various natural ingredients, the vegetarian diet established by the Canadian research team produces effects that are equal to those of statins and other similar medications. A recent study has revealed the fact that the special vegetarian diet can reduce bad cholesterol by up to 30 percent, beating most cholesterol-lowering pharmaceutical drugs and matching the results produced by statins.

The medical study conducted by the Canadian research team involved the participation of 13 volunteers, male and females, with ages between 43 and 84. The subjects were divided in two separate groups: the first study group received statin drugs, while the second group followed the vegetarian diet. In order to maximize the accuracy and relevancy of the study, the group that followed the vegetarian regimen had to respect certain eating patterns imposed by the researchers, receiving their meals in equal quantities and at the same time. Similarly, the group that received statins had to take their medications in equal doses and at the same time intervals. By the end of the experiment, all subjects in both groups experienced a decrease of their bad cholesterol levels by around 30 percent. Impressed by the efficiency of the special vegetarian diet, the researchers have made their obtained results public, revealing the ingredients of the “special natural recipe” for lowering cholesterol.

The cholesterol-lowering vegetarian regimen includes lots of fresh fruits, nuts, leafy legumes and seeds. The efficiency of the diet lies in natural ingredients such as plant sterols, substances contained by leafy vegetables and vegetal oils, soy proteins and soluble fibers. Some of the cholesterol-lowering foods used over the course of the study were: soy milk, cereals, oatmeal bread, vegetal margarine, jam, tofu, leafy non-starchy vegetables and fruits. Although such a vegetarian diet may become quite boring after a while, it has a pronounced positive effect on one’s overall health and it greatly contributes to the elimination of excess cholesterol. Considering the fact that this special vegetarian diet is healthy, cheap and effective in overcoming cholesterol problems, nutritionists recommend it as the best natural alternative to cholesterol-lowering pharmaceutical drugs.

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If you are consuming a high cholesterol, high saturated fat diet, and all of the sudden your doctor tells you that you must adjust your diet to reduce dangerously high cholesterol levels you may believe that you will likely starve to death. Having been a big fan of hot dogs, chili dogs, chili cheese dogs, and hamburgers I can tell you with all honesty that you will not starve. On the other hand it might take a little willpower to turn down butter, pie, and chili dogs, but what I found is that once over my chili cheese dog withdrawal symptoms I felt much better.

I was able to dig up a chart I used to use and thought you might be able to use this list of low cholesterol foods in place of some of your current high cholesterol favorites.

Eat Less of These                Substitute With These

Hot Dogs, Hamburgers        *Low fat franks and soy alternative

Red meat                             *Fish and skinless white meat poultry

High fat dairy products        *Low fat or nonfat dairy products

Butter                                   *Margarine with stanols and sterols

Fried foods, fatty snacks      *Vegetable, Salads

Ice cream, cookies, pie        *Fruits

Refined cereals                    *Slow cook oatmeal, oat bran

Eggs                                     *Egg beaters and tofu

So you have looked over the list and concluded that you really will starve to death! Trust me when I tell you over time you will learn to love many of the healthy choices above. For those of you more interested in reading labels and looking for general guidelines I have you covered as well. Saturated fats should account for no more than 10 percent of total calories consumed each day. Polyunsaturated fats including beneficial omega 3 oils should account for about 20 percent of total calories. Monounsaturated fats which raise beneficial HDL cholesterol should account for about 20 percent of total calorie, examples would be canola oil, olive oil, nuts, and avocados. Now that’s about 50 percent fat per day but the majority of fat consumed will be helpful in increasing levels of beneficial HDL cholesterol thus placing them on our list of low cholesterol foods.

What Next? Lowering cholesterol, in most cases, is about changing old habits, adopting new healthier habits, and enlisting the help of convention medications such as statins or natural cholesterol reducing remedies if needed. Put simply, this basically means finding ways to increase HDL (good cholesterol) and decrease LDL (bad cholesterol levels). Certainly the aforementioned statin drugs will be one of your options but they do carry a number of serious label warnings. The side effect risks have made natural cholesterol reduction supplements combined with diet modification an alternative treatment combination worth considering.