Lowering cholesterol is one of the most common ways to reduce your risk of many dangerous conditions like heart disease, diabetes, and stroke. You may not be aware of all the options available to you in helping to lower your cholesterol, particularly when it comes to natural solutions. Unlike cholesterol-lowering prescription drugs like Crestor, Lipitor, Zocor, etc., natural supplements can lower your bad cholesterol and raise your good cholesterol without giving you a host of nasty side effects. One of these natural solutions is called "Policosanol."

Policosanol is a member of a family of wax-like phytochemicals, and you can find it in a number of dietary supplements and foods straight from nature, including rice bran, broccoli, alfalfa, oats, beeswax, etc. This means it is a totally natural compound, which is important when you’re trying to stay healthy. Prescription drugs are man-made, and they force changes in your body instead of cooperating with it. Whenever possible, you should try to give yourself something natural to solve health problems.

You can find one popular source of policosanol in sugar cane. Sugar cane-based policosanol is relatively new to the United States as a way to lower cholesterol, but it has developed a popular following as a hypocholesterolemic in other countries around the world. The main form of policosanol in sugar cane is called octacosanol. This is a long-chain fatty alcohol found in the waxy substance that coats the surfaces of various leaves and fruits in certain plants. Policosanol from sugar cane is the only form of Policosanol scientifically proven to lower LDL cholesterol and triglycerides.

So, you are probably wondering: What does all of this mean, and why does it matter? Well, Policosanol is a hypocholesterolemic (cholesterol-lowering) compound that actually interacts with LDL cholesterol (the bad cholesterol). Various aspects of LDL cholesterol can increase your risk of health complications, including oxidation, thromboxane, blood clot formation, etc. This is where Policosanol has been shown to help dramatically, as it reduces the occurrence of oxidation, thromboxane, and blood clots. Studies have shown the cholesterol-lowering capacity of Policosanol to be as effective as a low to medium dose of prescription statin drugs. These studies have demonstrated its efficacy in stopping oxidation and platelet formation. Any time you increase the frequency of clots within the body, you are risking a clot blocking blood flow in an artery, so preventing and breaking up clots is a very important benefit of Policosanol.

According to one study, giving participants 20 mg of Policosanol per day (for approximately six to twelve weeks) lowered LDL cholesterol about 28%, lowered total cholesterol about 20%, and raised HDL cholesterol by 7-10%. There was no noticeable difference in triglyceride levels. The participants continued to eat a low-cholesterol diet, which means that even with a diet already low in cholesterol, the participants experienced these impressive results. If you know of certain high-cholesterol foods in your diet that you could eliminate or reduce, your results might be even more dramatic.