Cholesterol is so vital to our body that it cannot rely on food sources alone for it. Therefore, less than 20 percent of total cholesterol comes from diet; the balance is being manufactured by the body.

Thus, trying to reduce our consumption of traditional cholesterol-laden foods, including butter, cream, cheese, eggs, and meat, may be an exercise in futility.

The less of total cholesterol we consume, the more our bodies produce it.

It has been known for many years that very large doses of cholesterol lead to... a decreased percentage of its absorption. However, considerable variation is seen in absorption from person to person, and the ranges vary five-fold.

Unfortunately, there are no lab tests to predict if you absorb a lot or very little cholesterol. The fact is that the average absorption is clearly decreased at usual cholesterol intake. This could explain why studies with feeding eggs every day to volunteers have shown almost no effect on serum cholesterol levels (Journal of Lipid Research, August 1999).

Elevated cholesterol levels may be also due to other contributing factors, such as... gallstones. Three out of four gallstones are made of cholesterol and their presence can cause oversecretion of cholesterol by the liver!

Fairly common on the eyelids, xanthomas are yellow, soft and slightly raised non-contagious bumps made of cholesterol deposits. They occur both in men (33 per cent) and women (40 per cent) who have elevated cholesterol levels.

Another sign of high cholesterol levels in the blood are xanthelasma - yellow patches on the eyelids, common in diabetics.

In medicine cholesterol is measured in metric units - either:

• in milligrams per deciliter of blood, abbreviated as mg/dL (used in U.S.), or
• in millimoles per liter of blood, abbreviated as mmol/L (used in Canada and Europe).

A deciliter (dL) is 1/10 of a liter or about 1/4 of a pint. A mole is an amount of a substance (in this case, cholesterol) that contains a certain number of molecules or atoms. A millimole (mmol) is 1/1,000 of a mole.

Total cholesterol levels:

• less than 200 mg/dL (5.17 mmol/L) is considered desirable
• 200 mg/dL - 239 mg/dL (5.17 mmol/L - 6.18 mmol/L) - borderline-high
• 240 mg/dL and above (6.21 mmol/L and higher) is considered high.

LDL-"bad" cholesterol levels:

• less than 100 mg/dL (less than 2.6 mmol/L) is considered optimal
• 100 mg/dL - 129 mg/dL (2.6 mmol/L - 3.35 mmol/L) - near optimal or above optimal
• 130 mg/dL - 159 mg/dL (3.35 mmol/L - 4.10 mmol/L) - borderline high
• 160 mg/dL - 189 mg/dL (4.12 mmol/L - 4.88 mmol/L) - high
• 190 and above (4.90 mmol/L and greater) is considered very high.

HDL-"good" cholesterol levels:

• 60 mg/dL (1.56 mmol/L) or higher is considered desirable (it reduces the risk of heart disease, even if total or LDL cholesterol is high)
• 40 mg/dL - 60 mg/dL (1.04 mmol/L - 1.56 mmol/L) - acceptable
• below 40 mg/dL (1.04 mmol/L) is considered low (it increases the risk for coronary artery disease in people who also have high total cholesterol levels).

The published evidence is quite clear in documenting that the actual cholesterol level itself is not the most important risk factor of cardiovascular disease. It is the ratio between the level of HDL-good cholesterol and total cholesterol.

HDL-"good" cholesterol/total cholesterol ratio:

• in adults, it should be higher than 24 per cent (just divide your HDL level by your cholesterol). And, generally speaking, the higher the ration, the better.

Triglyceride/HDL-"good" cholesterol ratio:

• in adults, it should be below 2 (just divide your triglycerides level by your HDL). And, generally speaking, the lower the ratio, the better.

Low levels of HDL-"good" cholesterol are a strong indicator of insulin resistance. An HDL cholesterol level of under 35 is another risk factor for heart disease and is part of the insulin resistance syndrome, especially if found in conjunction with

• high triglycerides and
• other correlates of insulin resistance, such as belly weight and diabetes or a family history of diabetes.

The percentage of Americans with pre-diabetes - insuling resistance syndrome - is closer to ¾ of U.S. population.

In pre-diabetes syndrome, a person loses his ability to manage insulin effectively. If not controlled properly, the syndrome can lead to:

• heart disease
• non-alcoholic fatty liver
• colon or ovarian cancer.

How do you know if you might have pre-diabetes syndrome? You are at risk for this syndrome if you have these symptoms:

• increased weight
• high blood pressure
• high blood cholesterol.

You are considered pre-diabetic if

• your fasting blood sugar level is between 110 mg/dl and 125 mg/dl (diabetes is formally diagnosed at 126 mg/dl).

Some clinics use a fasting blood sugar of 90 mg/dl or higher as a biomarker of coronary heart disease risk. (A fasting blood sugar level test is the simplest and least expensive).

The view that 'the lower the total cholesterol, the better' is not always true!

At level under 150, you can be at a risk of... too low cholesterol. This condition may cause suboptimal function of such steroid hormones as pregnenolone, DHEA, testosterone, progesterone and estrogen - and result in ... depression and other health problems.

However, some doctors - in order to slower the progression of atherosclerosis in bypass grafts - advise their bypass patients to lower their LDL-cholesterol levels to... 100mg/dL or even below! (The New England Journal of Medicine, January 16, 1997).

Since the mid-1960s, cholesterol has been the basis of the lipid hypothesis of atherosclerosis.

According to this theory, dietary saturated fat and cholesterol lead to elevated levels of cholesterol in the blood -- and these elevated levels of cholesterol cause the pathogenic atheromas that block blood vessels.

Unfortunately, the "cholesterol-as-cause" hypothesis doesn't explain many observations and lacks clear-cut scientific evidence; however, it's still a popular theory that clouds the picture of atherosclerosis.

It's commonly known that the cholesterol-lowering prescription drugs:

• do not improve the heart's blood flow
• only partially reduce the incidence of heart disease or stroke
• only reduce the degree of arterial narrowing by a mere two percent or less, and
• inhibit, actually shut off - particularly statins - the production of CoQ10 by the liver what may cause serious complications (for example, as CoQ10 is involved in the energy production and protection of little energy furnaces in every cell, including the heart muscle, energy production goes way down).

If you choose to take a pill to solve the underlying reason as to why your body is making too much cholesterol, than well over 95 per cent of the time you will be making a choice that will promote disease rather than promote your health.

The key factor in atherogenesis is NOT total cholesterol, but oxidized cholesterol - the cholesterol, which has been damaged by reactive oxygen molecules called free radicals.

The cardiovascular system is highly susceptible to free radical attack. As a matter of fact, the oxidation from free radicals seems to be much more important than cholesterol as a risk factor for atherosclerosis (cholesterol has to be oxidized before it becomes a problem).

For some reason, the lining of our blood vessels appears to have no receptors for normal cholesterol, only for -- oxidized, damaged cholesterol.

Only oxidized cholesterol can itself irritate the arterial walls and initiate abnormal, pathological buildup of plaque (atheromas), blocking the blood flow.

Medical establishments tend to overlook the fact that total cholesterol plays an important role in the body as a potent antioxidant. It scavenges and, therefore, protects the body against free radicals - harmful oxidative agents known to cause the arterial plaque formation.

Contrary to popular opinion, cholesterol may even be a natural defense against arterial damage, as it helps maintain the integrity of the blood vessel walls, by making them less "leaky."

Cholesterol oxidation can be caused by numerous, seemingly unrelated factors, such as:

• high temperature
• exposure to air
• stress (under stress conditions our internal antioxidant mechanisms are compromised)
• lack of sleep
• too little or -- too much exercise.

However, most of oxidized cholesterol comes directly from consumption of devitalized, processed, fabricated 'food items,' including:

• sugar and fructose, mainly in the form of high-fructose corn syrup (HFCS)
• pasteurized, heated milk protein
• soft drinks
• fortified white flour
• miller and egg powders
• caffeine
• imitation broth products
• commercial vegetable oils, especially made from corn, soy, safflower and canola, and
• hydrogenated fats - in the form of margarine and shortening.

As blood fats (cholesterol, triglycerides, etc.), to a great extent, are intimately related to what you eat, your diet has a strong impact on the levels of LDL-bad cholesterol in the blood. Therefore, your food choices should be given serious consideration.

Read more...

There is strong evidence that exercise and stress reduction - if done regularly - are both protective of the cardiovascular system and supportive of the immune processes. For adults, increased levels of LDL-bad cholesterol are almost always a sign of not enough exercise.

Read more...

Nutritional arterial cleansing goes far beyond the standard "cut or medicate" treatments. Its goal is to

• improve and/or restore the impaired fat metabolism in the body
• protect arteries against oxidized-cholesterol damage (and processed, rancid vegetable oils), and, therefore,
• reduce the body's need for total cholesterol.

Improving the lipid (fat) metabolism is much more effective than a futile exercise of

• eating 'low cholesterol' foods and/or
• taking cholesterol-lowering drugs.

Read more...

Nutritional arterial cleansing is especially beneficial for whose who

• want to avoid using prescription drugs and/or
• cannot 'solve' the problem through the dietary and lifestyle changes alone, for whatever reason.

At Full-Health.com, we are sure that this simple approach to elevated blood LDL-bad cholesterol levels - so simple that, at first, its simplicity probably makes you difficult to believe - will do as much for you, as it has done for our clients and customers.

If other people have benefited from Arterial Cleansing Formula, you, or someone you know or hold dear, can benefit as well.

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