Chances are that if you??re not from India or the Middle East, you??ve never heard of guggul. Guggul is a supplement widely used in India as a natural high cholesterol treatment. It is made of tree resin from the mukul myrrh tree that grows in India and the Middle East. In India, guggul is used to lower cholesterol in Ayurvedic medicine as well as in prescription medicine. India is where almost all the research on guggul for high cholesterol has been undertaken.

Guggul as High Cholesterol Treatment: The Evidence

Guggul has a long history of use as a natural treatment in India and other parts of Asia. What kinds of ailments has guggul been used to treat and prevent?

- arteriosclerosis and congestive heart failure

- obesity

- inflammation

- lung ailments

- skin ailments

- seizures

- stomach ulcers

- arthritis

- high cholesterol

Research studies in India have confirmed that guggul is often effective as a high cholesterol treatment, recording a range of responses for high cholesterol from 11 to 27 percent drops. Yet it is significant to note that the subjects in the Indian studies generally followed a low-fat, high-fiber, whole-grain, high-in-vegetables diet, unlike the standard American fare. In the single U.S. study on guggul for high cholesterol, when the subjects ate their usual high-fat, low-fiber, refined-flour, low-in-vegetables diet, and took guggul, it did not help in their high cholesterol treatment.

This evidence strongly suggests that we may need to try eating smarter to lower cholesterol naturally, and not just take Guggul on its own.

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Smart Supplement Usage of Guggul

In the U.S. and elsewhere, guggul is sold over the counter. The recommended form of guggul to take is called guggulipid. Its use is increasing as a high cholesterol treatment in the West as people learn more about it.

Guggul is sometimes effective for treating high cholesterol caused by low thyroid levels. Low thyroid levels are a causative factor of high cholesterol. If you have low thyroid, have your doctor carefully monitor these levels if you are taking guggul.

Guggul can interfere with or sharply raise blood levels of medications such as diltiazem (Cardizem), propanolol (Inderal), statins, thyroid stimulating hormones, birth control pills, or blood thinners. Don??t take guggul in pregnancy or with inflammatory bowel syndrome or liver disorders. Before you start mixing guggul with any other medication, check with your doctor.

If you have been diagnosed with mild to moderately high cholesterol and have not yet been prescribed medication to lower cholesterol, your doctor may approve guggul combined with lifestyle changes to lower cholesterol naturally. If you take medication to lower cholesterol, you will definitely need to check with your doctor before adding guggul to your regimen.

How Does Guggul Lower Cholesterol?

There are several possible mechanisms by which guggul treats high cholesterol. In studies in India, guggul lowered total cholesterol, LDL (??bad?? cholesterol), and triglycerides (blood lipids). Some researchers believe it stimulates the thyroid to lower cholesterol. It is also believed that guggul may stimulate the liver to remove cholesterol from circulation in the bloodstream and thus lower cholesterol levels in the body.

Occasionally, people have a high cholesterol syndrome that does not respond to prescription medication, and the doctor is stumped about what to do. In India, if no contraindications apply, this kind of patient is often prescribed guggul and it is found effective. Guggul is also used to prevent high cholesterol. Consider discussing guggul with your doctor to lower cholesterol.