About 100 million Americans (close to one third of the entire population) have total blood cholesterol exceeding 200mg/dl, the threshold established by the National Cholesterol Education Program as the upper limits of normal. About 40 million of these have levels above 240 mg/dl, prompting conventional medicine to prescribe more than 40 million prescription on cholesterol lowering drugs, the majority of which belongs to the Statin class of drugs.

Is there any natural lipid-lowering alternative to drugs? The answer is Yes. Consider policosanol.

Policosanol is a complex mixture of compounds usually extracted from sugar cane - but sometimes from beeswax - that reduces blood cholesterol levels. The purified extract from these two are slightly different. The active ingredient is called octacosanol, and it is more abundant in the extract form sugar cane.

These substances work by inhibiting the function of an enzyme in the liver called HMG-CoA reductase, which is required for the body to produce cholesterol. Only 15% of the body's cholesterol comes from the diet. The other 85% is made in the liver in response to the needs of the body. That is why prescription drugs that inhibit HMG-CoA reductase are effective cholesterol lowering agents while dietary approaches often fail.

Studies since 1993 have consistently shown policosanol effectiveness as a cholesterol-lowering agent. In one of the earlier trials, 10 mg of policosanol administered once a day for 24 weeks caused total cholesterol levels to decrease by 22.1%. Interestingly, even a 1 mg dose resulted in a 16% reduction. By comparison, the total blood cholesterol in the control group increased by 5%.

Extremely high doses of policosanol have been used in laboratory setting to establish its safety. At the huge dose of 50 mg per kg of body weight (1700 times the level suggested for human use) for 6 months, there is not visible difference of organ pathology as examined under the microscope in comparison with placebo treated control animals. This is an important consideration, because one of the most common toxic effects of cholesterol lowering drugs such as Statin drugs is its liver toxicity observed in laboratory rats given a high dose (50 mg/kg). Liver damage is the most typical result of ingesting foreign compound, since liver is the major detoxification center of the body. It is therefore noteworthy that policosanol has no ties to any liver damage.

The effectiveness of policosanol on a cellular and molecular level is equally impressive. There was no evidence of policosanol-induced damage to DNA when rats were given large doses of it (5-500 mg/kg body weight) for 90 days.

Policosanol inhibits lipid oxidation in addition to inhibiting cholesterol synthesis. In addition to lowering the total cholesterol in the blood, policosanol inhibits lipid oxidation in the bloodstream that is commonly a precursor to strokes and atherosclerotic heart disease.

In a study involving 48 patients with an average age of 67, it was shown that an intake of 50 mg of octacosanol derived from beeswax reduces the lipid oxidation level by a modest but significant 6.7%. In addition, the antioxidant capacity of the blood increased by 20.3% compared to the untreated group. Older patients often take numerous medications, such as calcium-channel blockers, beta-blockers, non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs, diuretics, nitrates, digitalis, and antihistamines. None of the patients taking these drugs had any adverse reaction when taking policosanol at the same time.

If your cholesterol is high and you do not wish to take prescription drugs to lower it, there are multiple natural alternatives. Consider guccolipid, pantethine, fiber, chromium, niacin, garlic, Vitamin C, and policosanol. These can be taking alone or in combination for maximum effect in a properly blended nutritional cocktail to reduce total cholesterol, increase the good HDL cholesterol, and reduce the bad LDL cholesterol.

 
About The Author

Michael Lam, M.D., M.P.H., A.B.A.A.M. is a specialist in Preventive and Anti-Aging Medicine. He received his Bachelor of Science degree from Oregon State University, and his Doctor of Medicine degree from Loma Linda University School of Medicine, California. He also holds a Masters of Public Health degree and is Board Certified in Anti-aging Medicine by the American Board of Anti-Aging Medicine. He has authored numerous articles and the following books: The Five Proven Secrets to Longevity, How to Stay Young and Live Longer, Estrogen Dominance - Hormonal Imbalance of the 21st Century, and Beating Cancer with Natural Medicine.

 
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