In medicine, the term cholesterol means a class of lipoproteins that circulate in the blood. The concentration of these substances, also contained in foods and belonging to the fat class, must remain within recommended values ​​to prevent cardiovascular diseases and various disorders.

We see the various herbal remedies for regulating cholesterol.

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To cure cholesterol in herbal medicine we use herbs and medicinal plants and vegetable oils able to dissolve the molecules of the deposited fat and facilitate its elimination through the excretory organs, liver and kidneys.

Cholesterol, despite its bad reputation as a harmful substance, is an essential component of cell membranes, whose presence is therefore indispensable for our body. The absorption of cholesterol and all the fats that come from nutrition takes place in the intestine. Absorbed lipids are transported into the blood from particular substances called lipoproteins (LDL and HDL).

The so-called " bad cholesterol " is made up of low-density lipoproteins ( LDL - Low Density Lipoprotein ), the main transporters of cholesterol in the blood and their excess causes hypercholesterolemia . High density lipoproteins ( HDL - High Density Lipoprotein ) represent the " good cholesterol " because they carry excess cholesterol from the tissues to the liver, facilitating their elimination .

When the LDLs are in the right quantities they provide the cells with the correct cholesterol requirement; when they are in excess the cells continue to incorporate LDL, but their synthesis causes an insoluble residue of cholesterol that causes atherosclerosis, a thickening of the arteries, responsible for many cardiovascular diseases .

Learn all about nutrition to fight high cholesterol

Medicinal plants to regulate cholesterol

• Guggul: it is a very ancient plant known in India also as " myrrh tree " ( Commiphora wightiil ) and has always been used in Ayurvedic medicine for metabolic disorders that are accompanied by obesity and atherosclerosis . Its bark, once engraved, produces a resin that solidifies forming yellowish droplets that we also know as myrrh grains. Its phytocomplex presents steroids, diterpenoids, aliphatic esters and carbohydrates, capable of positively intervening on lipid metabolism, helping to lower the level of bad cholesterol (LDL) from the blood.

• Fermented red rice : it is obtained from the fermentation of the common cooking rice ( Oryza sativa ), by a particular yeast, called Monascus purpureus or red yeast . This rice, which owes its name to the characteristic coloring, represents a traditional component of traditional Chinese medicine but is also very well known in the West for the valuable cholesterol-lowering virtues .

• Garlic : it is a platelet and fibrinolytic anti-aggregator . If taken it improves HDL / LDL balance and reduces triglycerides . Used in the form of standardized dry extract, it is a highly used remedy in cases of hypercholesterolemia, hypertension, prevention of arteriosclerosis .

• Garcinia: the rind of its fruit contains vitamins, carotenoids, flavonoids, polysaccharides, pectins and hydroxycitric acid (HCA), capable of inhibiting the enzyme ATP citrate lyase, of enormous importance in the metabolism of fats . Unlike the more common citric acid, abundant in lemons hydroxycitric acid is extremely rare in nature and if taken it is able to dissolve and eliminate excess fat from the body. Studies have shown that this active ingredient blocks the synthesis of acetylcoenzyme A, an energy substrate used by the body for the synthesis of cholesterol and other lipids.

There are also cholesterol foods: find out what they are

The buds

Even the bud-derived, glycolic maceration of meristematic tissues of trees and shrubs, are used in the treatment of cholesterol in phytotherapy, among these we remember:

• Birch verrucous sap: it is the gemmoderivato of the birch, which exerts a detoxifying action directed to the lymphatic system . This remedy uses the powerful draining action of the tree sap (which reaches 30 m in height) to purify the body of excess toxins, responsible for intoxications produced by pharmacological treatments, cortisone or hormonal therapies ; and from metabolic waste such as hyperuricemia and hypercholesterolemia and triglycerides .

• Olea europaea: the olive-derived gemmoderivative has hypotensive, antisclerotic and hypocholesterolemic action. It is therefore used in cases of high blood pressure, triglycerides and cholesterol in the blood and in all sclerotic syndromes caused by senility or diabetes.

Vegetable oils for cholesterol

Vegetable oils extracted from oil seeds are a dietary source of omega3 / 6, the basis of the lipidomic diet.

Omega 3/6 are essential substances for the control of cholesterol and able to dissolve the occlusion it causes in the arteries and in the veins. The omega 3 and omega 6, in fact, decrease the formation of blood clots and for this reason they are used for the treatment of high blood pressure, to reduce the risk of cardiovascular diseases and in the treatment of atherosclerosis .

• Linseed oil: together with fish oil it is one of the most important sources of omega 3, rich in linoleic acid, linolenic acid and alpha linoleic acid, vitamin E and lecithin, which is why it is considered a powerful antioxidant of all tissues. In particular, alpha linoleic acid significantly improves cell oxygenation and respiration, lubricates blood vessels and all body tissues, improving their permeability. It is traditionally used to eliminate cholesterol and triglycerides, through its internal use, as a condiment oil or in pearls as a natural supplement.

• Borage oil: very rich in polyunsaturated fatty acids such as alpha linoleic acid (32-38%); linoleic acid (18-25%); Oleic acid (15-19%) is the main source of omega 6 . The usefulness of introducing borage oil-based dietary supplements derives from its ability to promote the production of prostaglandins of series 1 (PGE1), which are equipped with antiplatelet, cardioprotective, antisclerotic, vasodilatory activity . On these assumptions many therapeutic properties are ascribed to this oil such as the reduction of cardiovascular risk, the control of high cholesterol and hypertension.