High cholesterol. We have all heard of it and we know it’s bad. Chances are you have lost a loved one due to a heart attack or stroke. I know I have, and it sucked.
The reality is, 1 in 3 of us will be diagnosed with high cholesterol at some point in our lives. Typically this happens later in life, but when you are diagnosed, lowering your cholesterol becomes mission critical. In North America we still have a very reactive approach to healthcare. Unfortunately, the reactive solution to having high cholesterol is being prescribed statin medication. Statins are very effective at lowering cholesterol , but they come at the sacrifice of various negative side effects, some of which are arguably worse than high cholesterol itself!
But what if there was an easy way to proactively keep your cholesterol levels in check?
Luckily, there is and the solution is simple and beneficial for your overall health. It's easy: Just eat more soluble fiber
Fiber and Cholesterol
Fiber, soluble fiber to be exact, has long been proven to naturally lower cholesterol. It does this by binding to the bile acids in your digestive system, which forces your body to make new cholesterol from your bloodstream and therefore reducing overall cholesterol in your system (SOURCE: here)
Psyllium fiber is widely known as being able to reduce cholesterol but, in order to do so it must be taken in such significant quantities that your bowels will be having a field day.
The best fiber for lowering cholesterol is beta-glucan, specifically beta-glucan from barley.
Barley Beta-what?
Barely beta-glucan is a soluble fiber found in the cell walls of barley grains. It can be extracted using sustainable and natural methods that make it one of the most natural fibers available on the market today. Beta-glucans have been extensively studied and proven to be one of the most effective fibers for naturally lowering cholesterol. Health Canada and the US FDA both conclude that just 3g of barley beta-glucan taken per daily for 4-12 weeks is enough to effectively lower both LDL and total cholesterol.
This means that smaller quantities taken daily can prevent high cholesterol from ever becoming an issue for you.
The Downside
There are no downsides to using beta-glucan to maintain your cholesterol levels. In fact, there are only positive side effects. Soluble fibers, notably beta-glucan, have also been proven to help:
While we are on the topic, only about 5% of north Americans actually meet the recommended daily intake of fiber which is between 25 to 38 grams. Fiber itself acts as a prebiotic, which feeds your healthy gut bacteria – essential for your overall health and wellbeing. If you want to learn more about the effects that fiber can have on your health, check out our other article: here.
Why haven’t I heard of beta-glucan before?
Beta-glucans traditionally were extremely difficult to extract, relying on various chemical processes to remove the fiber from the grain before it is washed with large amounts of water and dried. New technologies invented at the University of Alberta in Canada have allowed us to extract beta-glucan from barley in a sustainable way, without the use of any chemicals or enzymes. Our company, NutraStat, is one of (if not the only) producers of beta-glucan fiber who extract it in a sustainable and natural way.
How to use beta-glucan proactively to maintain healthy cholesterol
If you are interested in maintaining healthy cholesterol levels, and want to take advantage of the other health benefits that additional fiber can provide, we encourage you to consider trying NutraStat. We are a Canadian based company with the sole purpose of helping to eradicate heart disease from the planet while improving the overall health (and therefore happiness) of our customers. Seeing families thrive in health and happiness is what we wake up for in the morning, and we hope that people around the world are able to benefit from the power of beta-glucans.
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