Cholesterol is quite easily the top of the list of killers among the human race in the world today. An excess of cholesterol can produce extremely fatal cardiovascular conditions such as atherosclerosis, heart aches, heart attacks, high blood pressure, etc. If a person has begun accumulating cholesterol in his or her arteries, then it might well be a way of inviting death.

A common misconception is that all kinds of fats can cause cholesterol buildup. But this is very far from the truth. In fact, only saturated fats and trans-fatty acids are responsible in building up cholesterol in the arteries. Whereas, cholesterol obtained from the monounsaturated and polyunsaturated fatty acids such as from nuts and cool water fishes are useful to the body, and they can bring the level of the harmful cholesterol down.

Even if the cholesterol has built up in the body, it can be certainly brought down using proper herbal techniques, as described in Ayurveda. This article is written with the purpose of enlightening you with some of the most potential remedies that Ayurveda describes for treating cholesterol and also some simple home remedies which also achieve the same task.

Treatment with Simple Home Remedies

Remedy 1

You cannot even dream of reducing cholesterol without first making a determination to stick to a particular regimen. If your cholesterol levels are high, then you must immediately and strictly obey the following guidelines:-

§ Stop the consumption of all fattening foods, which contain saturated and trans-fatty acids. These include all the hydrogenated oils, creams and chocolates.

§ Increase the consumption of fish such as salmon, sardines and mackerel and nuts. Always insist on one bitter dish per meal. It could be fenugreek, bitter gourd or bitter drumstick.

§ If you are overweight, enroll in a weight loss program. Keep yourself active and exercise often, according to the capacity of your body.

§ If you are an alcoholic, stop! If you are a smoker, desist! Alcoholism and smoking are lethal in people with high cholesterol.

Remedy 2

Oranges are very beneficial to eliminate cholesterol because of their high vitamin C content. Sticking to a diet of only orange juice for a day is really beneficial.

Remedy 3

Watermelon is very beneficial in treating high blood pressure that has been caused due to excessive cholesterol levels. Cut a whole watermelon and rub rock salt and black pepper on its slices. Then extract the juice of this watermelon and drink it. Within three or four days, the levels of the cholesterol will go down and the high blood pressure will also become normal.

Remedy 4

Crush some coriander and then put it in a cup of water. Warm it so that the juices of the coriander exude out into the water properly. Then cool it and drink this coriander water. Doing this everyday for about a month will bring the cholesterol levels back to normal.

Remedy 5

Every morning when you wake up, eat two to three cloves of garlic. If you cannot bear the sulfurous taste of the garlic, then you can roast them in a little amount of castor oil. Eat these cloves by biting them and chewing upon them fast. Eat them on an empty stomach each day. This seems to be a very simple thing to do (apart from the pungent taste of the garlic cloves, of course!) but it is proven even by western scientists to have amazing effects in the treatment of cholesterol.

Remedy 6

Every night before retiring, have a cup of warm water with five grams of Triphala choorna in it. Triphala contains the three great herbs – amalaki (Emblica officinalis), bibhitaki (Terminalia belerica) and haritaki (Terminalia chebula). All these three have been individually proved to have powers of dissolving serum cholesterol. Amalaki is very rich in vitamin C, which is the best known nutrient for the natural dissolution of cholesterol in the blood.

Remedy 7

Mix equal proportions of Bishop's weed seeds, cumin seeds and sugar. Grind them to a fine powder in a mixer grinder. Take one teaspoonful of this powder twice a day with water. This is a safe remedy even for pregnant women, and it shows good results in them.

Remedy 8

Put a single clove of garlic in one glass of milk. Bring it to a boil. Drink this garlic milk when it is still a little warm. Drinking this continuously for a week will surely bring the level of the cholesterol down.

Remedy 9

Take two teaspoons of honey and mix one teaspoon of lemon juice in it. Drinking this juice twice a day helps to dissolve the cholesterol from the arteries.

Treatment with Special Ayurvedic Methods

Arjuna is the Ayurvedic drug of choice for the elimination of cholesterol. The bark of the arjuna is prescribed to the patient in powder form, or in the form of its various decoctions with other herbs. The general dosage is one gram of powder four times a day. The vehicle to take this drug is either ghee, milk or honey; depending on which dosha is predominant in the body of the person. Ayurvedic doctors may also prescribe Arjunarishta, which is a preparation of arjuna mixed in special butters or ghee.