There is a lot of uncertainty about cholesterol. At which level does cholesterol become dangerous? Are lowering drugs necessary? The distribution of “good” (HDL) and “bad” (LDL) cholesterol is of great importance. In terms of blood values, the LDL value should be less than 150 and the HDL value greater than 50. In this case, the HDL cholesterol works like a cleaning crew in the body and absorbs superfluous fats. Even if they are already deposited on the walls of the blood vessels. LDL cholesterol brings fats into the cells to produce hormones. It is not “bad”, but only has negative effects when there is too much of it.

Scientific studies show that the risk of developing cataracts is significantly increased when taking cholesterol-lowering drugs. Conventional doctors usually treat high cholesterol levels with statins, i.e. cholesterol-lowering drugs. However, these drugs have numerous side effects: one of the most common is cataract, which usually requires surgery and can lead to blindness in the worst case. Yet cholesterol levels could be lowered quite easily with just a few changes in lifestyle and diet.

Cataract Due to Statins

In cataract, the lens of the eye becomes cloudy. Affected people see less and less clearly. In the advanced stages, they can only see light and dark. However, it is possible to operate on cataracts by “simply” replacing the lenses with new ones. Conventional doctors therefore see no reason in the increased risk of cataract to refrain from prescribing statins. It would be much healthier and less risky to address the actual causes of the elevated cholesterol levels instead of artificially lowering them. However, this is rarely attempted in standard orthodox medical practice. Recommendations for a modified dietary behaviour and lifestyle are therefore unfortunately not given, at least not to a sufficient extent.

One Year of Statins is Sufficient for Cataracts

Dr G. B. John Mancini and his team at the University of British Columbia in Vancouver, Canada, investigated the possible connection between statin intake and the development of cataracts. For this purpose, they analysed patient data from two large databases from Canada and the USA. In total, the data of more than 1.3 million people were included in the study.

The researchers selected from the study participants those who had taken statins for at least one year before their first ophthalmological examination. Then they checked how many of them had been diagnosed with cataracts and, if so, had already had eye surgery. It turned out that the statin patients from the Canadian database had a 27 percent increased risk of cataract. For the patients from the US database, it was still seven percent.

Studies Prove: Statins are Harmful

This is by no means the first study to come to a correspondingly alarming conclusion. In 2013, J. Leuschen and colleagues from the Wilford Hall Ambulatory Surgery Center in Texas also found in a study of almost 14,000 patients: anyone who takes statins for more than ninety days has an increased risk of cataracts. The researchers therefore recommend that doctors should carefully consider whether taking statins is actually necessary.

Pharmaceutical Industry Puts Pressure on Doctors

However, this will not be so easy, because the pharmaceutical industry is putting massive pressure on doctors to prescribe more and more medicines. Various guideline values are also being corrected further and further downwards. As a result, more and more people are suffering from “elevated” cholesterol levels and are thus eligible for drug treatment.

The American College of Cardiology and the American Heart Association now even recommend that almost all people over 65 take statins – regardless of whether their cholesterol levels are elevated or not. According to their assessment, every patient who is at risk of suffering a heart attack in the next ten years is eligible for preventive statin therapy.

The justification: even with a cholesterol level in the normal range, the cholesterol-lowering drugs are supposed to prevent cardiovascular diseases.

Lowering Cholesterol Naturally

Nevertheless, a cholesterol level that is actually too high is of course not to be trifled with. However, since in the majority of cases this is the result of an unfavourable diet and lifestyle, it can be reduced reliably with simple and often even small changes in lifestyle.

So you are certainly not faced with the decision of heart attack or cataract.

Therefore, become active yourself before you swallow harmful medication!

The Ten Most Important Measures to Lower Cholesterol Naturally

1. Avoid sugar, because a diet high in sugar increases cholesterol levels. Reduce your carbohydrate consumption in general and therefore also avoid white flour products and white rice. Instead of conventional pasta, choose cholesterol-lowering konjac pasta.

2. Increase the fibre intake in your diet, as fibre lowers cholesterol levels. Therefore – whenever you want to eat pastry or baked goods – eat the whole grain option. Also include special fibre-rich products such as psyllium husks, flaxseed, chia seeds or coconut flour or the satiating konjac powder in your diet.

3. Your diet does not have to be low in fat. But choose healthy fats, because omega-3 fatty acids have a reputation for lowering cholesterol levels. Therefore, use omega-3 rich oils such as linseed oil and hemp oil (or take krill oil capsules) for cold cooking and ghee for hot cooking. Instead of eating fatty meat, it is better to switch to fatty fish.

4. Take probiotics, as beneficial gut bacteria can contribute to healthy cholesterol levels: probiotics lower cholesterol levels.

5. Check your vitamin D levels, as a vitamin D deficiency can raise your cholesterol levels and conversely a healthy vitamin D intake lowers your cholesterol levels.

6. Consider supplementing with chlorella, as chlorella can lower cholesterol levels.

7. Eat berries as often as possible, as strawberries and also blueberries lower your cholesterol.

8. Eat an alkaline diet of fresh, local organic foods, as this diet can prevent many diseases, including cardiovascular disease.

9. Consider less stress and more exercise! Both also contribute to a healthy cardiovascular system.

10. Drink alcohol in moderation. Alcohol increases your risk of cardiovascular problems in many different ways: Alcohol not only raises cholesterol levels, but also blood pressure and the risk of diabetes, obesity and coronary artery disease.

I wish you the best of health. Your practice for eye acupuncture Michaela Noll

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