Using Tea To Reduce Your Cholesterol

Using Tea To Reduce Your Cholesterol
By Marcus Stout

High is a health concern for many Americans. High
levels of LDL are a leading contributor to heart
disease. LDL is what contributes to clogged
arteries. Arteries become clogged and narrowed when LDL
cholesterol circulating in the blood becomes oxidizes and
hardens into plaque.  The more LDL you have
circulating in your blood, the more plaque you’ll develop. 

A second type of cholesterol, known as HDL is what
we refer to as “good cholesterol”. This form of cholesterol
carries away LDL to the liver, where it can pass out
of the body.  This is why we should have high levels of HDL
cholesterol. However, when our levels of LDL are
high, our HDL levels are typically low. 

If you’re trying to lower your LDL levels and raise
your HDL levels there are several things you can do.

The first is watching your diet. Avoiding foods high in
saturated fat and like butter, eggs and red meat can
help you lower those LDL levels. In addition, you
can help raise your HDL levels by replacing those saturated fats
in your diet with healthy fats like olive oil, canola oil,
avocados and nuts. These fats raise our HDL levels and keep us
healthy. 

Secondly, to reduce LDL levels, it’s important to
exercise. Walking is a great way to help reduce your cholesterol
levels, and it will help lower your blood pressure, as well. 

If you’re overweight, losing weight will help you reduce
cholesterol levels, as well. Making the dietary changes
mentioned above and beginning to exercise should make dropping a
few pounds easier. If you’re a smoker, you should stop. Smoking
significantly increases your risk for heart disease. 

Your level is also affected by your heredity. Some
people are prone to high even if they exercise
regularly and eat a healthy diet. If you fall into this
category, you may require medication in addition to lifestyle
changes in order to get your under control. 

Another way to help reduce LDL levels is to drink
tea. Green tea has been shown in many studies to help prevent
LDL from oxidizing and turning into plaque. These
studies have suggested that even if your LDL level
is high, drinking tea may prevent it from causing a problem. 

However, it appears that drinking tea may actually have the
power to lower your blood levels, too. A study
conducted by the University of Hong Kong studied various types
of Chinese tea and their effect on in rats. The rats
were all fed a high diet for

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a week before beginning
the study. Then, the rats were divided into several groups. Each
group was fed a different type of tea while continuing the high
cholesterol diet for another eight weeks. A control group of
rats received water instead of the tea. 

The types of tea used for evaluation including Jasmine, Iron
Buddha, Pu-erh, oolong and green tea. The reason that multiple
types of tea were used was to evaluate whether fermented teas
are as effective at reducing as those that are not
fermented. Green tea is completely unfermented, Jasmine tea is
mildly fermented, and oolong and Iron Buddha are semi-fermented.
Pu-erh is a fully fermented tea. 

In addition to measuring the levels in the mice
participating in the study, the weight and fattiness of the
liver was also measured. 

This study concluded that the teas that had been minimally
fermented (Jasmine and green tea) had a significant effect on
both the serum and liver levels of cholesterol. In addition,
these teas reduced the weight and fat of the liver. These teas
were able to significantly lower the levels, while
the fermented teas and the water did not. The levels of
triglycerides and HDL were not significantly
different among the groups. 

So, it appears that green tea may be a powerful way to help
reduce your level, particularly when combined with a
healthy diet and exercise. If you combine the results of this
study with those of past studies, you can come to the conclusion
that consuming tea, particularly green tea may be able to help
reduce the actual level of LDL circulating in your
blood and may also be able to prevent the that is
there from oxidizing and turning into plaque. 

If you’re struggling to get your level under
control, green tea is definitely worth a try. It has no side
effects, and is well tolerated by nearly everyone – even those
who are sensitive to caffeine.  And, in addition to helping you
lower your cholesterol, green tea may have other added benefits.

Green tea may be able to help you lose weight and may prevent
heart disease, diabetes and cancer. Green tea just might be the
one supplement to your diet that can help with many of the
health problems plaguing Americans today.

About the Author: Marcus Stout is President of the Golden Moon
Tea Company. For more information about tea, green tea and wu
long tea go to http://www.goldenmoontea.com

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