Cholesterol - Natural Therapies Such As Fish Oil Are Better Than Dangerous Statin Drugs

Over the last 20 years, many things have been written about cholesterol, which levels of cholesterol are healthy and what, if anything one should do to protect oneself. The medical establishment tends to promote dangerous statin drugs, which, not coincidentally, generate billions of dollars of sales for the drug companies annually.

Statin drugs have many dangerous side effects. Some of the side effects are very severe and cause permanent damage. Liver damage, heart damage and permanent nerve damage are just some of the many side effects of these drugs. One only has to look at their official lists of side effects to see how dangerous these drugs can be. I have some personal experience with this, as a very close family member of mine experienced permanent nerve damage and now has a permanent limp as a result of taking a very famous cholesterol drug.

The good news is that natural therapies such as concentrated fish oil are actually superior to drugs in dealing with lipid imbalances. In July 2008, the famous Mayo Clinic released the results of a trial which showed that people who took six capsules of concentrated fish per day in combination with red yeast rice and dietary changes had much better results in reducing the "bad" cholesterol when compared to those who took the drug simvastatin.

The people who went on the fish oil and the low-sugar diet saw a 42.4% decrease in LDL levels, compared to only 39.6% in the simvastatin group. More importantly, fish oil and a healthy diet have no negative side effects and the same time they have a lot of benefits apart from lowering LDL levels.

For example, the natural therapy group also had significant decreases in triglycerides and lost a lot of weight. On top of this, concentrated fish oil, when taken at high doses of about six capsules per day, have also been proven to decrease inflammation, decrease blood pressure, decrease homocysteine and improve mood.

It is the combination of all these factors that actually decrease your chances of getting serious diseases such as heart disease and diabetes. Anyone who tells you that you can solve all your health problems by taking a pill is not to be trusted. There are natural substances that can help a lot, but the best effect will never be achieved while at the same time continuing to eat what people now call the standard American diet of junk food, sugar, white bread and other unhealthy foods.

Still, over 100 studies in the literature have shown that finding a top quality-concentrated fish oil which is free of contaminants is one of the best, if not the best, way to treat cholesterol and other lipid imbalances. I recommend a natural, pure fish oil made from hoki fished off the coast of New Zealand, far away from industrial pollution and radiation of the large, polluting countries in the world.