Lower Cholesterol with Natural Methods

            Early man ate a Paleolithic diet and ran after game. His diet consisted of lots or wild berries, grains, and meat when he was fortunate enough to kill an animal. The grains and berries were as close to nature as is possible. Grain had its husks on it and berries were straight off the bush. For thousands of years man lived off this diet. His physiology and biology adjusted to the natural nutrition available to him. We don’t know what his cholesterol levels were, but I would guess that in most cases they were far below anything to worry about. 

            Step ahead a few thousand years to twenty-first century man. We find him sitting on the couch watching a big-screen TV and munching on processed snacks. Studies have shown that the average American diet consists of 70 percent carbohydrates and 30 percent saturated fats - all processed foods with flavors enhanced. In most cases, present day man has high cholesterol and is being warned by his doctor to bring it down. Does he exercise? The only exercise he does is click the remote to change the channels.

            How does present-day man compare to early man? Not a good comparison. His food is processed - far from the natural. Yet his physiology is the same as early man’s. Does present-day man exercise? In most cases no - not that half-hour per day aerobic exercise that heart doctors like to see. What does present day man look like? He has an apple-shaped figure with a pronounced pot belly. Dangerous fat is stored there and is indicative of what must be going on in his arteries. The blood vessels are storing fat which is converted to plaque.

            So can present-day man be saved from further coronary problems? Yes, he can. He has to get up off the couch for at least a half-hour a day five days a week and do aerobic exercises. This will do much for his circulatory system and make him feel better over all. His food has to gravitate towards the more natural ones – ‘closer to the vines’ sort of speak. He must eat foods that nature intended for him. Instead of flavor and fat enhanced fast foods he must eat vegetables, fruits, small portions of meat (4 ounces), and lots of green salad with olive oil and vinegar as a dressing.  Nuts are extremely healthy foods but must be eaten in moderation because of their high calorie count. Fruit juices – the closer to the fruit the better – can provide antioxidants and help with holding back atherosclerosis or hardening of the arteries.

He must become ‘label savvy’ and read labels on food products. The pulpier and fiber loaded - the better the product. Gravitate away from saturated fat and trans fats found in off-the-shelf cookies, cupcakes, donuts, and dairy products. Early man did not have access to a convenience store or today’s fast-food so our physiology was never made to handle these modern forms of food.

Gravitate toward what early man would have eaten – ‘the Paleolithic diet’ and you will find that your cholesterol will go down and you will feel much better.