While cholesterol-lowering statin drugs may reduce cholesterol levels, there is little evidence that they help prevent heart disease, probably because they do not address underlying issues, but rather only the symptoms. Further, as with many other drugs, cholesterol-lowering drugs may, at some later time, be determined to have serious side effects.
In very stark contrast, there is overwhelming long-term, cross-cultural, multi-national evidence that a plant-based diet is not only safe and healthy, but indeed capable of preventing or reversing heart disease as well as preventing other diseases (e.g., cancer, diabetes, gout, and others) and being beneficial for all-around good health and nutrition.
Generally, foods rich in vitamins and fiber are good for reducing your cholesterol; in contrast, foods without significant amounts of vitamins and fiber are unhealthy. Animal products often contain saturated fat and cholesterol, but never fiber or anti-oxidants. Plant foods often contain fiber and anti-oxidants, and never cholesterol and typically little or no saturated fat.
Numerous scientific studies show that, overall, vegetarians have much lower cholesterol levels than meat-eaters -- and vegans, who eat no animal products at all, even more so -- and a much lower incidence of heart disease and heart attacks, as well as lower rates of various forms of cancer, stroke, hypertension/high blood pressure, diabetes, gout, and other very serious and deadly diseases. It's not too late to take back control of your life and reverse the ill-effects of high cholesterol.
We should note that some foods and herbs may interact, either positively or negatively, with some medicines (e.g., antibiotics, antidepressants, anti-clotting/blood thinning medications, birth control pills, cholesterol-lowering drugs, etc.). If you are taking any medicine, herb, or drug, for any reason, be sure to learn about that medicine and with what it may interact. Likewise if you have any disease, medical condition, or are pregnant. In addition to doing your own research, check in with your doctor, pharmacist, and other trained medical professionals.
In a nutshell, according to the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine, the ten basic facts to know about cholesterol reduction are:
1. "Cholesterol is found only in animal products."
2. "Cholesterol in foods raises the cholesterol level in one's blood."
3. "There is no 'good cholesterol' in any food."
4. "There is no fiber in any animal products."
5. "A diet including fish is not as beneficial as a pure vegetarian diet."
6. "Making only modest changes yields only modest results."
7. "The best thing to do is to keep one's fat intake very low and to avoid any animal products."
8. "Basing one's diet on plant foods -- grains, beans, vegetables, and fruits -- is the best way to keep saturated fat intake low and to avoid cholesterol."
9. "A low-fat, vegetarian diet coupled with exercise, smoking cessation, and stress reduction program[s] is the best way to lower one's cholesterol levels and can even reverse heart disease."
10. The choice is yours.
If you're ready to take control of your life, by controlling cholesterol and beating the top three killers, including heart disease, now's the time. Dr. Susan Bennett, director of the Women's Heart Program at George Washington University Medical Center, reminds us that "It's never too late to take action to prevent and control the risk factors for heart disease."
Now's the time. Live long, healthy, and happy!
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