Diet in high cholesterol (Modern and Ayu...

Diet in high cholesterol (Modern and Ayurveda aspect) Your body needs some cholesterol to work properly. But if you have too much in your blood, it can stick to the walls of your arteries and narrow or even block them. This puts you at risk for coronary artery disease and other heart diseases. The treatments for high cholesterol are heart-healthy lifestyle changes and medicines. The lifestyle changes include healthy eating, weight management, and regular physical activity. The diet plan is as follows: 1.Eat plenty of soluble fiber. Foods high in soluble fiber help prevent your digestive tract from absorbing cholesterol. These foods include: Whole-grain cereals such as oats. Legumes such as kidney beans, lentils, chick peas, black-eyed peas, and lima beans. 2.Eat lots of fruits and vegetables. A diet rich in fruits and vegetables can increase important cholesterol-lowering compounds in your diet. Fruits such as apples, bananas, oranges, pears, and amla. 3.Eat fish that are high in omega-3 fatty acids. These acids won't lower your LDL level, but they may help raise your HDL level. They may also protect your heart from blood clots and inflammation and reduce your risk of heart attack. Fish that are a good source of omega-3 fatty acids include salmon, tuna (canned or fresh), and mackerel. Try to eat these fish two times a week. 4.Limit salt. You should try to limit the amount of sodium (salt) that you eat to no more than 2, 300 milligrams (about 1 teaspoon of salt) a day. That includes all the sodium you eat, whether it was added in cooking or at the table, or already present in food products. Limiting salt won't lower your cholesterol, but it can lower your risk of heart diseases by helping to lower your blood pressure. You can reduce your sodium by instead choosing low-salt and "no added salt" foods and seasonings at the table or while cooking. 5.Limit alcohol. Alcohol adds extra calories, which can lead to weight gain. Being overweight can raise your LDL level and lower your HDL level. Too much alcohol can also increase your risk of heart diseases because it can raise your blood pressure and triglyceride level. One drink is a glass of wine, beer, or a small amount of hard liquor, and the recommendation is that:Men should have no more than two drinks containing alcohol a day Women should have no more than one drink containing alcohol a day 6.Reduce saturated fats. Saturated fats, found primarily in red meat and full-fat dairy products, raise your total cholesterol. Decreasing your consumption of saturated fats can reduce your low-density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol — the "bad" cholesterol. 7. Exercise on most days of the week and increase your physical activity Exercise can improve cholesterol. Moderate physical activity can help raise high-density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol, the "good" cholesterol. With your doctor's OK, work up to at least 30 minutes of exercise five times a week or vigorous aerobic activity for 20 minutes three times a week.Adding physical activity, even in short intervals several times a day, can help you begin to lose weight. Taking a brisk daily walk during your lunch hour Riding your bike to work Playing a favorite sport To stay motivated, consider finding an exercise buddy or joining an exercise group. 8.Quit smoking Quitting smoking improves your HDL cholesterol level. The benefits occur quickly:Within 20 minutes of quitting, your blood pressure and heart rate recover from the cigarette-induced spike Within three months of quitting, your blood circulation and lung function begin to improve Within a year of quitting, your risk of heart disease is half that of a smoker. 9.Lose weight If you drink sugary beverages, switch to tap water. Snack on air-popped popcorn or pretzels — but keep track of the calories. If you crave something sweet, try sherbet or candies with little or no fat, such as jelly beans. 10.Avoid spicy, deep fried, packed or process food, junk food, red meat, dairy products in your diet. Ayurvedic diet for high cholesterol Ayurveda is one of the world’s oldest medicinal systems. It uses diet, behavioral modifications, supplements, and detoxification remedies to promote optimal health and prevent disease. Yet, scientific studies often question its safety and effectiveness . In comparison, Ayurvedic treatments for high cholesterol consist of dietary restriction, massage, yoga, breathing techniques, behavioral modifications, exercise, cleansing, heat therapy, enemas, and herbal supplements Ayurvedic practitioners usually create a treatment plan based on your individual needs. Studies show that certain Ayurvedic practices like dietary modifications, supplements, and stress reduction reduce cholesterol levels and boost other aspects of health. Ayurvedic medicine uses medicinal herbs to treat high cholesterol. The herbs most commonly used are garlic, guggul (Commiphora mukul), and arjuna (Terminalia arjuna) , triphala, trikatu, shilajatu. Langhana Langhana means lightening therapies. These are the therapies which induce lightness of the body and establish health. While producing lightness, langhana measures remove the heavy components whose morbidity is causing blocks in the body tissues, organs and channels, namely the ama, meda and kapha. Among these Vamana and Virechana are excessively helpful in the treatment of hypercholesterolemia. They help in throwing out the morbid kapha and meda. Virechana also helps in expelling the morbid pitta. Managing morbid Kapha in hypercholesterolemia - Avoiding Kapha aggravating things will also help reduce accumulation of bad fats in the body. Panchakarma Panchakarma is highly beneficial in the treatment strategy of hypercholesterolemia; in fact it should be the first line of treatment. Vamana - Therapeutic emesis will help in getting rid of morbid kapha and ama which are precursors of meda accumulation. Virechana- therapeutic purgation is the best in business to eliminate excess meda in the body. It forms a useful combination with udvartana. Vasti some lekhana and medohara vastis (fat eliminating enemas) have been described in the Ayurvedic treatment which are highly effective in medoroga especially when Vata is dominant or when Medo avrita Vata (functions of vata obstructed by clouding fat) is on the backdrop. Even in these cases, vasti gives good results when administered after a course of Virechana. therapies (Ayurveda cleansing and detoxifying therapies), Yoga and Naturopathy will surely help. External treatments Udwarthana means massage done over the body with herbal powders in an upward direction i.e. from below upwards (against the traditional pattern of massage which is done from above downwards) with a moderate and tolerable friction. Udwarthana is said to be the best treatment in diseases caused due to morbid meda (fat), ama (immature essence of nutrition formed in the stomach and is circulating all over the body, owing to its sticky and immature nature tends to block the srotas or channels of nutrition of the body and cause various diseases and damages in the body) and vitiated kapha conditions.Udwarthana is also found to give extremely good results in obesity, over-weight and hypercholesterolemia conditions. When combined with Virechana (therapeutic purgation), Vasti (herbal enemas), disease modifying herbs and formulations, diet and lifestyle modifications, Udwarthana has found to reverse the pathological process and deplete the stores of bad fat from the body.