High cholesterol is a health problem for a great many people; it is a threat to a healthy heart. It happens to millions of people each year. You go to your doctor for a regular check-up which includes a blood test. You think nothing of it, until your doctor calls you and gives you the results of the blood test, which include a diagnosis of "high cholesterol."

Cholesterol is a waxy substance that is made by the liver for normal body functions like formation of cell membranes, production of hormones, vitamin D and bile acid. It is also present in the food we eat. Animal products like meat, poultry, eggs, and dairy products usually contains high cholesterol levels compared to fish while on the other hand, plant products like fruits, vegetables, grains, nuts, seeds and the like contains NO cholesterol at all.

When diagnosed with high cholesterol, doctors often prescribe drugs known as statins, or prescription strength cholesterol lowering drugs.

But Do "Cholesterol Lowering" Drugs actually work?

The hype surrounding statins is the con job of the decade, and statin manufacturers are laughing all the way to the bank. But all this begs the question: is there really any health benefit to taking statins? If so many doctors and drug companies are pushing this drug, it must be saving lives or improving peoples' health, right?

A critical review of thirteen clinical trials, published in the Journal of the American Medical Association, reveals some startling facts about statins:

Ø  Statin drugs save zero lives.

Ø  Statins are utterly useless as prevention.

Ø  Even in people with high cholesterol, statins don't reduce the risk of death one iota.

Ø  There has never been a single study that demonstrated statins extend life for women.

So much for the hype surrounding statins.

To make matters worse, statins are known to produce some unwanted and very serious side effects including lack of libido, memory loss, CoQ10 deficiency, vitamin D deficiency, muscle fatigue, sudden death and widespread hormonal imbalances. Statins actually cause disease while preventing nothing!

Why Do Doctors Love Drugs?

The simple answer is, "They're human."

Doctors have only so many working hours in a day and try to spend most of them seeing patients. They rely on the medical establishment to keep them informed about effective treatments. Their information comes from:

    * Professional Associations,

    * Medical Journals,

    * Government,

    * Other Doctors,

    * Drug Companies.

Sadly, all of the first four sources are heavily influenced by number five, the drug companies. In fact, eight out of nine members of the special panel that established the current cholesterol guidelines have financial ties to the drug companies.

I believe that's why natural, non-pharmaceutical treatments get so little attention from the medical profession: there's no powerful coalition of vested interests, high pressure sales people and huge advertising budgets lobbying the medical establishment and promoting the benefits of natural treatments - even though some of those natural treatments are often far superior to drugs.

It's a rare doctor, indeed, who will even consider natural therapies - usually a doctor who has a special interest in them or has been personally influenced by a family member or an outspoken patient.

So What Should I Do?

Simple lifestyle changes like watching what you eat, adding specific foods to your diet, undertaking some form of regular exercise, reducing alcohol intake, cutting down on smoking will help reduce your cholesterol.

You see, our lifestyle choices have gotten us into this mess. We need to make the right choices to get us out.

The fact is the exponential increase in heart disease is really the result of the way our lives have changed. The bad news is we are used to living a certain way now and it isn’t easy to change. The good news is that change is in our power and with it better heart health.

Coronary heart disease is killing us as a society. One in two people dies of heart attack. The change we need to make in diet and lifestyle is NOT an option, it’s mandatory.

Lowering cholesterol will bring significant changes to your health – changes that are VITAL to living a hearty and healthy life.